Lily of the Valley
by the Key of Falling Skies
Summary: When the clans receive a prophecy concerning some cats being a threat, these cats began to be shunned and excluded from their clans. It is in the force of these cats to change their destiny, to break away from the path of dark emotions leading to crimson times that the clans may have created for them without realizing. (Currently being edited as a new story called Black Ice)
1. Prologue

**Important note:**

 **Hello** _ **readers and Warriors fans. I have decided to rewrite this story as a new one called Black Ice, so please read it, I am hoping that it is better written than this version, and have more frequent updates. I will no longer be updating this version of Lily of the Valley.**_ I

 **Disclaimer: I don't own warriors...**

 **-Key**

Swallownose slowly lowered his muzzle into the slushy waters of the moonpool. Shutting his eyes tightly and cringing against the cold, he waited expectantly for what came next. He gradually felt a creeping whirlpool of darkness close around him, giving him a spiralling sensation of falling. He was soon greeted by a sharp glow behind his closed eyes and a swaying sensation beneath his large red paws. He narrowed his eyes against the streaming starry light before scanning his ancestor's hunting grounds with a watchful eye.

To one side of the clearing stood a familiar brown tabby she-cat with sparkling blue eyes.

"Poppyshade!" He greeted respectfully, unable to hide his happiness at the sight of his Starclan guide.

"Swallownose," she responded, her voice holding none of its usual cheeriness.

Swallownose instantly felt the mood darken, "What is it, Poppyshade?" He inquired.

"Swallownose," She began uncomfortably, "There are new challenges that will arise for your clan, and all the others."

"Wha-What do you mean?" He murmured, half-hoping she would give him an answer that held none of Starclan's reputation of cryptic messages and omens.

Instead of responding, the long-legged she-cat suddenly turned around, eyes flashing in alarm as claw connected with claw, fang connected with fang, and fear mingled with triumph, but Swallownose never saw any of that, instead he suddenly saw the landscape change before him. He now stood in a foggy marsh, gazing around, eyes narrowed to slits, as he could start to distinguish a group of cats through the clouded area. In the lead stood a dark brown she-cat with stormy blue-grey eyes, as if a cat had taken a cobweb of snowflakes and dappled her eyes with them, and all around her crowded a group of strange-looking cats. He could clearly see that many of them had a problem of some sort. Missing claws here, a limp there, a tom whose gaze looked clouded and blank, a she-cat who was signalling quite quickly with her tail, and a long line of unidentifiable cats hidden by the misty glare of the swampy land.

A voice suddenly boomed overhead, one he had heard barely moments ago.

"All these cats," the voice sneered, "They will band against you, they will be the downfall of the clans. If you don't believe me, just wait and see." Swallownose was startled by Poppyshade's sudden change of mood.

Moments later, he was overtaken by a swarm of images that swirled through his head, just barely out of his reach, until one in particular stood out, as if specially selected by the Starclan cat herself. Before his eyes, or perhaps he should say his mind, once again stood the same group of cats as earlier, the leading she-cat easily recognizable by her sparkling blue eyes. This time, though, they were surging forwards along with many other cats, ones that strangely resembled rogues, towards cats that her assumed were the clans sometime in the near future. He quickly identified the current clan leaders plunging head-on into the battle, as well as most current medicine cats plus a new addition, lingering to the side. He could see the look of despair on the clan cat's faces as they were easily outnumbered, and the cruel glares of the opposing cats, eyes gleaming with something he remembered from a distant memory. If he had lived during a time of war he might have known, he might have known that this was the look of a broken cat seeking vengeance.

As if this was not enough, Swallownose's attention was almost immediately brought to another scene, this one of the cats leaving their territory, downcast and miserable, as a triumphant call resounded eerily around them. Swallownose willed himself to move, to do something, to tear himself away from the vision, but he was stuck in place, frozen in shock. The fur along his back was rising, and shivers ran down his spine. He shuddered as the ground turned a murky scarlet beneath him.

"Young cat, you need to make sure that this never happens," The voice growled silkily.

"H-how?" he stuttered as the landscape faded back to the muddy marsh, unable to stop himself from letting out a sigh of relief.

" There are some... Different cats in the clan. They will cause this, and you must therefore stop them from ever becoming warriors." Poppyshade's voice mewed again.

"What do you mean... Different?" He questioned.

" Didn't you notice that some cats had... Hindering aspects to them?" She hissed.

"Well yes, but wouldn't that make them less dangerous?" He inquired.

" Not if they are trained properly. If this is the case then they are even more dangerous than a normal clan cat. They have perseverance, and believe me, when come a disadvantage comes an advantage," She stated, as if this were the most obvious fact.

" Why would they revolt though?" He asked.

"Jealousy, they know that they will never be true warriors, if you break them now, they will not stand tall later."

" Are you sure this is right?" He asked.

" Do you trust me?" She purred, and for a moment there was a malicious glint in her eye and Swallownose blinked in confusion, but when he opened his eyes next the glint looked like a starlit gleam again.

"Yes." To that, Swallownose had no doubts, she had never been wrong before.

" My dear Swallownose, these cats will be kept from training, banished if necessary, and everything will be fine. You will be the judge of whichever cats are apt or not, you the leaders, and the other medicine cats. You see, they are receiving the same message at this moment." The brown tabby she-cat purred.

The reddish tom narrowed his eyes," Poppyshade, this isn't like you, you aren't the type of cat to do this. How can I trust that this is real?"

Poppyshade's eyes shone dangerously, " My dear little clan cat, if Starclan disagreed with this we would send you a sign right? Look at your precious little clouds when you come out of here, they are not covering the moon, and neither are there going to be any other contradictory omens. Actually, I am sorry to tell you this, but for the next few seasons we will have to leave you to build your own path, and we will only contact you if absolutely necessary, and even then, only briefly to leave a sign, not to speak."

"Why?" He questioned, is there a problem. A rising feeling of suspicion was haunting him.

" Because, even Starclan does not have the ultimate knowledge of every possible path and if we just so much as touch one ever so slightly we can never know of the future you just foresaw will come true!" She hissed, then added, "Enough talking now! I must leave soon." Her tone was growing urgent. " And if you contradict us, Starclan will have to keep sending you omens, understand, this is the only way to prevent the swelling of our ranks and the lose of the clans."

He glanced up in confusion, why would she need to leave him? It was barely nearing moon-high. Her gaze seeming to soften, the pale tabby bent down to touch his nose, "When you inform your leader of the new rule, please tell your him these exact words:"Starclan said so." She murmured, then her figure started flicking in and out of view, and seeming,y drained of her force, she sat down and waited, her pelt fading out of view. For a few moments, Swallownose stood staring at the lush grass in confusion. It could have been minutes, or hours, but he spent some time contemplating the situation, until the moon reached its peak, and he faded out of view, back to the moonpool gasping as he felt his muzzle stint with the burn of cold water.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ (line-break that looks like cats:)

Poppyshade screeched in fury, gaze locking with an exact copy of her. "HOW DARE YOU! HOW. DARE. YOU? YOU. HAVE. JUST. LEAD. THE. CLANS. TO. THEIR. DOOM. YOU PIECE OF FOX-DUNG. WAIT A MINUTE, THAT'S NOT EVEN A GOOD ENOUGH INSULT FOR YOU, YOU STARCLAN CURSED DARK FOREST CAT."

But Hawkstar just smirked, " Well, what were you expecting," he mewed calmly, "When a Dark Forest cat learns that Starclan will be losing contact with their precious descendants it's only natural for it to find a way to flaw that, although I never really saw it coming that the boundaries between our territories would fade."

"Get out of my sight you mange-pelt," She growled quietly, adding every bit of loathing she owned for them in her voice. Then she did what every cat was told never to do from their first moments in the nursery. She turned her back on a Dark Forest cat and padded away, and Hawkstar did nothing to catch her, that would come later.

"I refuse." Swallownose muttered, and so did every other medicine cat, unaware of the dreams that would haunt them until they agreed to tell their leader; the same dream that would haunt leader after leader.

Now believe me, when they finally accepted their task they were not trying to be evil. They were doing it because as promised, no omens came from Starclan, not one, and every time they would try to deny it the Dark Forest's curse would come to haunt them. To be honest it did not take them nearly enough time to get over it and make it a tradition. Many cats disagreed, but how could they leave the place that had practically been their whole life?

 **Ok... So... Please review!**


	2. Problematic

**Hello people! I answered the first review that I got already (Thank you). Oh, and I also changed the fur colour of the main character, in the prologue it was dark brown, but now it will be pale gray.**

Snowkit blinked open her eyes, blinking against the harsh glare of the dawn light spilling into the nursery. Glancing over at her mother, the pale gray she-kit saw that the dark gray tabby she-cat was still sleeping. The moon-old kit blearily got to her paws and gazed at the sky from a small opening in the den wall that that in a breeze that sent shivers down her spine. The surrounding skies were speckled with clouds, and sunlight was rising over Riverclan territory. At the edge of her vision she could see gathering storm clouds, spreading darkness over the clans, but she did not mind rain, she had seen it once already, and they only part of it that she despised was the soggy feeling of drenched fur.

Stumbling out of the moss and reed den, she let her ears guide her to where three kits were squealing happily while dashing through the clearing. A few annoyed-looking warriors were glaring at them, but most couldn't keep the amusement from their eyes. With it being early dawn, even the dawn patrol was still getting ready and the hunting patrols were being chosen at the moment. At one side of the clearing stood a nervous-looking she-cat, and Snowkit briefly wondered why she was holding back from all the activity, and when she caught a few of her clanmates glaring at the cat, who was a lithe calico she-cat with dark green eyes, she felt confusion creeping up on her, and decided to go ask Alderstripe about this later.

Fluffing up her fur against the chill of leaf-fall, she squealed and ran over to the three three-moon old kits. Gingerkit did not notice her jumping into the air to bat a dry moss-ball in the direction of her brother, Reedkit, whose eyes flickered in recognition. The final kit, Goldkit, turned around second later and smiled, kicking the moss-ball over to Gingerkit before rushing up to meet her.

"Want to play moss-ball?" the grey tabby asked cheerfully.

"How do we play?" She asked.

"Well, in our version of this the goal is simply to not let the ball get past you and then pass it back to somebody else." By then, the ginger shapes of Gingerkit (and slightly darker form of Reedkit), were clustered around her too. She backed away, feeling the need to escape the tight group.

"Sure!" she squeaked.

" Okay! I start!" Yowled Gingerkit, running off with the brittle moss-ball before anyone could protest.

Reedkit shrugged, resuming his position, and Goldkit gave her an apologetic glance. Waving her tail to signal that she didn't mind, she rushed over to the final corner of their square, located right before the nursery, and if she backed up too much she could feel the scratch of dry plants brushing against her fluffy tail. By then Gingerkit had batted over the moss to Goldkit, who twisted in mid-air before bringing it down to Reedkit, whose eyes were narrowed in concentration, batted it. Snapping her gaze away from the game and towards the fact that there was an object flying in the direction of her face, she quickly raised a paw in a lame attempt to block it, getting her tail caught in the faded greenery behind her and flinching away from it.

Grinning in embarrassment, she ducked her head shyly as it hit the sandy ground barely inches in front of her, but the others payed no notice, Gingerkit already fighting Reedkit to get the increasingly smaller moss-pile. Goldpaw looked at her for a moment, beckoning her to join before jumping into the small fight. When Reedkit emerged triumphant with a sulking Gingerkit trailing behind him, Snowkit finally decided to take action. Exchanging a knowing glance with Goldpaw, she crept up behind Reedkit, who was struggling to keep the game in his favour. Judging her distances, she pounced right in from of him yowling, "Ambush!" And the kits abandoned the game to play-fighting instead.

Snowkit slowly back away, sitting a way' back from the loud kits. The few warriors that were still in camp glanced at her, as if wondering why a kit wouldn't be playing with her denmates. Smiling, she decided to try something else instead. Quietly padding to a corner of the camp where a young willow sprouted, she unsheathed her claws and attempted to climb.

The bark was easy to cut through, and she managed to scramble up to the first branch, where she had a clearer view of the river. Bellow her ran a rushing swirl of blue, and she gasped in surprise. In the distance, she could see the edges of the gorge that the elders had described to her on her first day out, but the elder's description was nowhere near what she could see, even from just the height of the reeds. The frothy waters were were tinted white near the edges, ripples leaving place to waves that seemed to soar above the occasion moss-covered rocks, and finally the most impressive part was the curtain of water. Although she could barely see any of it, she knew that the rippling streak of silver, white, and blue held more speed and power than she could have ever known, the mist shrouding the air all around it.

Caught up in looking at the water, she did not see time pass until her mother called her down moments later, scolding her for standing above the water for so long. She slowly came down the tree, suddenly feeling a slight bit of fear at the thought of falling, as she was from Riverclan and every kit was taught to stay away from the current from the very first moment they opened their eyes. She felt a wave of relief as hit hit the ground, at the same time as the conviction that this wasn't the last time she would return to climb.

Coming back to the clearing, she saw the other kits were now in the middle of a game of what they seem to call, 'catch the mouse'. Gingerkit was prancing around the clearing yowling to the others that she would find them soon. One of the rare bushes in the clearing rustled, and yowling in triumph Gingerkit pounced onto a dark grey kit with gleaming golden eyes, who sighed in a good natured manner. Moments later, Reedkit yowled and jumped in her path, making her jump higher than Snowkit had even seen a cat jump, not that she had seen many.

Just then, while looking to see if Streampaw had joined them, she noticed the strange calico she-cat again, looking quite annoyed as a few warriors sneered at her. She was carrying over a couple of reeds to the nursery, and Snowkit decided to ask her why she was acting like that, but just as she came two tail-lengths close to the green-eyed she-cat, she was intercepted by her mother.

" Snowkit, it would be best if you stayed away from Shadowedfern." She meowed gently, and from the corner of her eye she saw the medicine cat apprentice, Waterpetal, glaring at her mother in disgust.

"Why Greyfeather?" She asked.

"Snowkit, why don't you just go play with your friends," she suggested, glaring back at Petalpond.

Surprised, Snowkit just nodded before joining her three friends.

"Goldkit! What are you playing?" She asked.

"We're playing fox! If the fox touches you its your turn to try to touch somebody else."

" Okay," She mewed, still perplexed with the suspicious behaviour in camp.

" Tag! You're it!" Gingerkit howled, shoving Goldkit.

Goldkit then started chasing Snowkit around the clearing. She ran around in circles, weaving around as many obstacles as she could, for her small size did not allow her to outpace the other kits. It did not take long for her to start panting, and she had to constantly take breaks, but she shrugged it off, noting it as unimportant. She played like this until her mother called her over to her side.

"Snowkit, I think it's time the elders told you a bit more about our code," she mewed.

"Really?" She mewed.

"Yes, now take them a nice juicy trout and they can tell you," She answered.

"Okay!" She squeaked, having finally recovered from her run. She rushed over to the fresh-kill and pulled on a trout buried in the middle. She leaned all her weight backwards and stumbled backwards when it finally came down. She dragged it across camp, panting with the weight of the surprisingly fat fish, which was larger than even she was. A few moments later, her mother gently picked it up and brought it over to the elder's den herself.

"Badgerstripe! Lynxpelt! Look who came to see you." She mewed, prodding Snowkit into the den before turning tail and leaving.

" Is there a specific reason why you came?" A she-cat grunted.

"Well," Snowkit mumbled shyly before adding more loudly,"Greyfeather said that you needed to tell me something about the code."

The mood instantly darkened as the she-cat frowned and the tom's eyes glinted, "Are you sure you want to hear this?" The she-cat asked.

Before she could respond, the tom answered, "She'll need to learn it soon anyways, preferable before Swallownose gets back." Snowkit had heard of Swallownose, he was apparently gone to another clan right now, but was supposed to be medicine cat. The only thing that puzzled her was why cats spoke of him in such a pitying manner.

The she-cat sighed, picking up on the fact that Snowkit didn't intend to speak up, " Quite a while ago, Swallownose received an omen from Starclan. It was a quite peculiar one, but Starclan never sent us another sign to go back on their words. Starclan-Starclan told them that certain cats with... Differences... Such as Shadowfern, should be forbidden to be warriors, and exiled if necessary, to protect the clans from a war that would be caused by them."

Unable to stop herself from asking, Snowkit narrowed her eyes before asking," What's wrong with Shawdowfern?"

The tortoiseshell she-cat sighed, " It was said that leaders and medicine cats decide whether a cat is apt to be a warrior of not. Shadowfern, she's blind in one eye."

Puzzled Snowkit commented again, although she knew this was unlike her, "But why did I see warriors bullying her, she's done nothing wrong yet!"

"Listen kit, we don't make the rules here so you better accept them!" Badgerstripe, who was much bigger than Lynxpelt, growled, "If we didn't do this the clans would be destroyed, understand? DESTROYED!"

It was at that moment that Snowkit started panting again. She could feel shock spreading through her. Even she, not even an apprentice yet, could figure out how much of this was nonsense.

"Hey, kit? What's wrong?" This time Badgerstripe looked concerned.

"Nothing," She mewed before holding in a cough.

 _What is this?_

She blearily padded out of the den, ignoring the black dots dancing before her eyes. A moment later, one of the elders grabbed her by the scruff and dragged her into another den, where she was greeted by a strong scent of greenery and a sudden warmth. She heard cats discussing in hushed voices, but she could not make out the words. The blurred shape of the orange elder then exited the den and she finally managed take in a deep breath before blinking the darkness out of her eyes. Before her stood Waterpetal, and the silver she-cat seemed to have lost all sense of professionalism.

 **Umm... Please review?**


	3. Leaving

**Hello. I have nothing to say… Apart from maybe the fact that my version of the forest territories is slightly altered, it makes the plot-line easier to follow.**

 **I-Really-Hope-Not: Thanks for reviewing! Looking forward to your next story chapter too.**

Snowkit narrowed her eyes at the medicine cat, who seemed to be staring right past her. She turned around and jumped as she saw a stranger next to her. He was of a shade of red that Snowkit had never yet seen, but that was not the detail hat caught the most attention. His amber eyes had a distant look to them, as if he were not truly here, and in them was a dull glint that looked dangerously menacing.

"Swallownose…" Waterpetal's greeting seemed hesitant.

"What's wrong with the kit," He mewed gruffly, talking about Snowkit as if the little grey she-kit wasn't there herself. Snowkit twisted her ears back painfully towards Waterpetal, wondering the same thing.

"Just a little cough, she'll be fine," Waterpetal answered, regaining her confidence.

"Hmm. Let me see," He cast her a doubtful glance that made Snowkit feel oddly out of place.

"No!" She nearly yowled, then caught herself, " I know what I'm doing, don't you trust me?" At those last four words his gaze took on a crazed look and Snowkit flinched back, feeling annoyed at their cryptic looks.

"Never mind that Waterpetal, there's nobody I can trust. Besides, her fur colour seems familiar..." He growled before padding over to Snowkit, who bristled before finally facing him fully.

Amber eyes met blue ones, and recognition seemed to spark beneath the murky depths of the amber ones, whose owner froze mid-pace. Then he seemed to regain his composure, although Snowkit couldn't be sure she wasn't imagining things when she thought that a trace of... Say-sanity... Seemed to have vanished from the ginger cat's attitude.

For a moment he stared at her, then he prodded her chest with a paw and she flinched, having only just recovered from the burning sensation. She forced herself not to cringe away from his haunted look when he leaned an ear towards the place where she assumed the thing her mother had called lungs were. Waterpetal seemed to be trying to distract him, bright green eyes flashing, but he simply ignored her, waiting and listening, then he rose with a growl, and Snowkit wanted to leave all the confusion behind as he and Waterpetal seemed to have a stare-down.

"And this," he hissed, "Is why you can never trust a cat." Snowkit narrowed her eyes, figuring that this meant that Waterpetal had truly been lying.

"This isn't a cough." He snapped, "This isn't a cough at all you mange-pelt! Don't you get it. SHE will destroy us!" He yowled madly, gesturing at the small grey she-kit, who felt the sudden instinct to run as far away from here as possible and never come back.

"Snowkit, go to your mother, it's time for bed." Waterpetal urged gently, but Snowkit was already half-way out of the den by then.

She rushed across the clearing and nearly tripped over her mother on the dark, the following warmly licking her head while asking her what the medicine cats had said. She shrugged her mother off, telling her that they had said it was only a cough, and her mother did not insist, instead deciding on going to see them the next day, but one question Snowkit needed to ask.

"Greyfeather, what's wrong with Swallownose?" She asked.

" It's not his fault, Snowkit, he just, saw things. Now go to sleep, you can not change what is concerning this."

Greyfeather fell asleep nearly instantly, but Snowkit took a while to calm down the beating of her heart, the confusion shrouding her thoughts being slowly lulled by a gullible sense of security in the shelter of her mother's tail.

Staring up at the den entrance, she could see that the storm was coming progressively closer, and the night had become darker than it would have normally been on a nearly full-moon. Closing her eyes, she let the tugging of sleep drag her into its ebony darkness.

 _A grey she-cat stood silently next to a crowd of cats._

 _The group was mostly shrouded in fog, and the muddy ground beneath them stained their fur._

 _Their eyes were the clearest, alight with confidence._

 _The leading she-cat signalled, and the scene suddenly flickered._

 _A group of cats, scents mingled, were facing an opposing group, led by the same grey she-cat, intricate blue-grey eyes glinting madly._

 _The groups then merged, battle hungry, and claws met claws, fang met fang, force met speed._

 _One single, eerie, desperate yowl rang as a ragged and defeated group of cats ran from the offending cats, whose eyes lit with a satisfied look._

 _Then the image was suddenly flooded with scarlet liquid, at first barely a claw-length, then tail-length, then consuming everything until-_

Snowkit woke with a start, heart beating faster than it normally would during sleep. Blinking the sleep out of her eyes, she sat up for a moment, busy with convincing herself that it had all been a dream. Outside, the storm had closed in on the clans and it was pouring. Small droplets of water rebounded from the sandy ground, partly intersected with rocks, and landed on her fluffy kit-fur. She shivered, although it was unusually warm for leaf-fall, and huddled closer to Greyfeather, who mumbled something incoherent in her sleep. The constant thrumming of the rain was comforting, and Snowkit let it lull her back to sleep, that is, until an even darker shadow fell upon her, momentarily interrupting the rain pattern to leave place to the squeakier sound of paws in mud.

She sat up with a start. Looking wildly along the den, only to find herself looking back towards the entrance once more to where a large figure lay hidden behind a sheet of rain. Snowkit squinted to make out the identity of the black cat and took a surprised look when she realized that the dark green eyes belonged to none other than Blackstar. The latter silently padded into the den moments later.

"Why are you still up Snowkit?" He mewed with a hint of reproach to his tone.

Snowkit wanted to answer, but she found herself frozen in place, staring back at the leader with a hesitant look look in her eyes.

"No matter, we needed to come get your anyways," he mewed, prodding Greyfeather awake.

The dark grey she-cat hissed, than asked, "Why are you waking me in the middle of the night?"

"The water level's rising, we need to evacuate, Brookpath is alerting the others." At these words, Greyfeather shook her fur with a solemn face before turning to her daughter just as Blackstar's yowl rang down the camp, " Cats of Riverclan, we need to evacuate, now!"

"Snowkit, you will need to stay very close to me, understand, I will help you cross the river when the time comes." Greyfeather mewed, and without waiting for an answer, she exited the den, glancing back to make sure her daughter was still behind her.

A heartbeat later, Snowkit followed, fluffing out her pelt, which had yet to grow into the typical water-shedding Riverclan fur. Outside, the storm seemed to have an even greater intensity than it had moments before. Gusts of wind sent waves of rain shooting across camp like ripples Ina bond before abruptly smashing into the reed walls that sheltered the camp, and beyond that, she could clearing hear the rushing of the river, which seemed to have been amplified ten times over. Finally, the distant sound of lighting could be heard crashing over the moors and forests.

It only took the travel through half the clearing for her to be sinking belly-deep inside muddy water, her steps awkward, paws lifting higher with every step to be able to move forwards. Greyfeather turned back, grabbing her by the scruff, and Snowkit did not protest, at least until Blackstar came padding back towards them. Freeing herself of her mother's grasp, she landed in a puddle that sent a splash all around her, pooling around her in a matter that would have made her laugh if this weren't the middle of the night. Although, considering she did like the night, and the rain, and water, she let out a small grin anyways, which everybody else overlooked much to her relief considering the apparent gravity of the situation.

She pulled herself out, shaking her fur, although the rain soaked it once again moments later. Stopping to listen to what the cats were talking about, she caught a few words of their conversation before they were whisked away by the howling wind.

" -rising too fast. -help the elders - 'll take care of Snowkit." Blackstar's voice could hardly be heard above the rushing of the river, and Snowkit gaped, she knew that they were trapped, surrounded by river, water level rising, guarding escape.

Next, her mother spoke, " OKAY!" And she left while Blackstar scooped Snowkit up. Snowkit felt vaguely annoyed at the fact that a slightly unfamiliar cat were holding her before looking down again, knowing that she could not swim and the water was too deep for her. She craned her neck in confusion as she saw that they were heading the opposite way from the others.

"Blackstar, where are we going?" She mewed, "The flood-camp is the other way." By then they were at the edge of the river, and she could clearly see that it was foaming dangerously, speckled with broken branches, and even a tree farther down. Stepping one step closer to the edge of what used to be the river bank, Blackstar stopped, and Snowkit squirmed, uncomfortable at the near sight of danger.

Suddenly, another figure appeared through the downpour. She shivered as she saw that it was Swallownose, who appeared ominously satisfied. He padded down to join them, and Snowkit scrabbled to get back down to steady ground.

"Blackstar?" She squeaked.

"Forgive me Snowkit, it's for the good of the clans." He mewed decisively, and Snowkit felt fresh air hit the spot where the black cat's grasp had been holding her moments ago. The last thing she heard before everything was swallowed by the storm was a gloomy howl whose sharp note wouldn't be carried far past the edge of the river.

What they did not notice was the pair of bright green eyes watching them through the reeds, and that they would not see them again until moons later. The cat's eyes narrowed in fury, and she hissed before crossing the river, following it downstream, following it the Skyclan.

Long later, few yowls of despair were let out into the stormy night, yowls for their two missing clanmates, two missing, two loudest of all as sister searched for sister and mother searched for daughter.

Snowkit gasped as she hit the water, which was nowhere as warm as the rain and humidity of the night, but all that this helped to do was fill her mouth with water, sending her spluttering for oxygen. She desperately flailed her paws, survival instincts taking over her frantic thoughts of indignation, confusion, and abandon. She was suddenly submerged by an oncoming wave, which disoriented her until she had sun so many times she could barely tall which way was up. Luckily, the last trace of air she held let her float up to the surface.

She struggled to find a grip, but she knew that an unusually small kit was no match for a river. She then felt the tug of the current growing stronger, and from the few mist-shrouded glances she could get, she could see ahead of her what the elders had described as 'rapids'. Succumbing to panic, she thrashed wildly, and uselessly, and felt herself plummeting through the water, lungs screaming for air.

Then a moment, barely a heartbeat, time seemed to slow, and a she-cat's figure appeared overhead, glowing like embers through the night. At the same moment, a crash was heard overhead, then a loud groan,and before Snowkit could even attempt to get out of the way, a huge overshadowed figure was falling towards her. The old oak tree, now lightning-struck, crashed into the river, momentarily creating a current in the river that engulfed her. The last breath in her lungs was forced out of her as she collided with the tree, or was is the tree colliding with her?

She couldn't tell, all of her senses muffled and confused after all this tumbling, but what she could tell was the pain that exploded through her, particularly in her chest, as black spots crowded around her vision and she stopped struggling through the current, swept away by darkness.

 **Hi. I know this is a spoiler but, SHE'S STILL ALIVE (for if anybody was wondering). Oh, and please review (reviews are entertaining to read, even criticism).**

 **Please review?**


	4. Sky over the River

**Hello, again. Please review. Oh, and I will have the allegiances up the next chapter, so you are free to send in OCs (loners, rogues, and clan cats). Oh and, this is in the forest territories, so Skyclan is there. And, you are free to send in OCs even after the allegiances are up.** ** _Oh, and your are free to review._**

 **I-really-hope-not: Thanks! (Lol we keep writing thanks).**

 **Other than that, FINALLY IM NOT WRITING FROM A KIT'S POINT OF VIEW! I don't like doing that since you need to put aside some important facts to make them seem more childish.**

 ** _Although it may seem like Icepaw was thinking for a while, in reality it was sometimes only seconds, but you know, writing about a thought takes longer than thinking it._**

Icepaw slowly lifted a paw, then another, making sure to avoid all susceptible distractions as she approached her target. Unsuspecting, the following was peacefully watching its surroundings, waiting for its fellows to join it, dusty brown fur glowing pale brown in the sunlight. Leaning back on her long legs, she calculated the distance needed for her leap. Tensing her muscles, especially the ones in her hind legs, she would need the font lags to control the distance and direction, but the power to go farther and higher with perfect balance was stored in her hind legs, or so Dustfur said an eight moon old apprentice should know.

Moving one more tail-lenth, hoping that the rare area of long grass would conceal her pale grey fur, which now had a more silvery tint to it, the very ends taking on a pure white colour while the parts farthest from the edges remained darker. She willed herself to be silent, unnoticeable, part of the background, breath and heartbeat mingling with the awakening earth and breeze, long fur ruffling in sync with the still yellow tinged grass. She narrowed her eyes, blocking out the background and focusing on her target, five tail-lengths, four tail-lengths, three tail-lenths-

Icepaw caught herself thinking back to the seasonal clan competition. Although she usually enjoyed staying away from cats who she was not completely accustomed to, she still managed to kindle an ember of competitive feelings which could easily turned to a blazing fire when is came to competitions. She knew she wouldn't particulate to the hunting competition, that just wasn't her area, but perhaps she stood a chance in climbing? She could only consider herself lucky she wasn't Windclan, because great Starclan it was hard for her to run, or do any other type of physical activity, for a long time without a familiar ache settling in her chest and forcing her to slow down.

She had figured that this was normal, at first at least, but it didn't take the most observant cat to figure out that no other kits seemed to have any issue until much later than her. Although the clan seemed to be giving her contradictory messages. Waterpetal insisted that she not bother anycat else, giving her the occasional coltsfoot and juniper, then immediately leaving to gather more, as if it would be dangerous if any cat found out it had frequently been used.

Now, she might have wondered what was so wrong about this if she hadn't learned clan tradition yet. _"All warriors judged unable to be proper warriors by the leader of medicine cat are forbidden to be trained and Blah Blah Blah"_ ridiculous non-sense because of some prophecy that a cat named Swallownose had apparently gotten.

Barely after her first gathering, she had also noticed a pattern. Riverclan seemed to treat their cats worst. A cat named... Shadowfern who had a limp always seemed to be nervous and on end, jumping at every noise and being jeered at by her own clanmates. Then again, Swallownose was said to be a crazy Riverclan medicine cat, but still, cases of cats _disappearing_ had been reported in there, cats who were different. Namely, a cat called Snowkit had not been seen in moons now, and it was said she was swept away by the river on a flood night.

Then there was the three other clans, from what she had seemed they were somewhere in the middle. Then there was Skyclan, and Skyclan seemed to be the least bad. Sadly, it was also one of the most populated clans in that matter. Rosethorn had no claws, Twistedleap's front paw was twisted, Whitepaw couldn't smell, and Rosekit had no tail.

Although, wasn't this disgusting? How could one treat another that way? Sure, Starclan had never contradicted their actions, but since when were the clans so blinded by their ancestors. Although, she had noticed that the cats to receive the omen seemed to have a haunted expression.

What all this lead to was this; If it wasn't normal to have breathing issues, then this meant that Icepaw was one of them. She was one of them and Waterpetal knew it. She knew she needed to discuss things with Waterpetal, but when was the right time to do so? Wouldn't that just endanger her even more? And-

Icepaw realized too late that she had lost focus, not even mid-leap, Dustfur had already turned around and knocked her over with one simple swipe of his paw. Temporarily winded, she grinned as she sat up, pieces of stray leaf-fall grass during new-leaf clinging to her fur.

"Next time you try that," he began, green eyes gleaming, " First of all, try to focus more," Icepaw already knew she often day-dreamed, "And second of all, you might want to try a different approach. In open territory, it is usually better to rely on speed and surprise rather than stalking, because out in the open you can easily be spotted. I know it's risky, but let's just be glad that our territory is not near Windclan, that way these skills will mainly be for practice."

Icepaw nodded before he continued, " I think we should work on more tree techniques now, don't you?" And the small grey she-cat nodded eagerly.

* * *

Icepaw stood in the training clearing before Dustfur. Lately, or so ever since before she had even been born, it seemed as if every cat were on edge, fighting skills sharpened until ever cat became an expert and could easily take on three cats at once. Of course, to Icepaw this sounded like a normal routine, having been part of Skyclan her whole life.

Then again, if she really were one of the 'different' ones, she shouldn't be getting this training. To contradict that she told herself firmly tat she was not breaking the warrior code's newest addition.

Fernmist had never said she was useless. As a matter-of-fact, the she-cat had never said a word about her at all. The blue-grey she-cat just seemed to try to avoid her as best as she could. Waterpetal had never commented either, only casting her disapproving glares every time she complained about the problem. Finally, Pebblestar, at best, stared off into the distance, paying no attention to her while instead muttering things about a grey feather. Of course, this was no surprise, even neighbouring rogues knew of the rumours circulating about Skyclan's crazy leader.

"-and use your claws to keep to your trajectory- Icepaw! Are you even listening to me?"

Icepaw lowered her head in embarrassment, blue eyes downcast, and Dustfur sighed.

"I said, we are going to start by practicing two techniques, then we might consider starting trying to travel from one tree to another."

Icepaw nodded, the phrase sounded familiar, almost as if she'd been listening more than she thought she had been, but of course she knew that even if her subcontinent memorized everything she said, she still needed to have the slightest bit of an idea what they were talking about if she was to practice the move in a way that required slightly more than instinct.

"The first technique is called fall. It is more of an advanced move, so we will not be practicing it from the usual height yet." Dustfur continued, green eyes gleaming, and Icepaw tilted her head to the side, waiting to hear the full instructions.

" The move, when performed at an experienced level, starts with you being at a beach higher that the lowest branches of the tree, or at least the branches that are at the maximum height a cat should jump from. You should then jump down from that branch with claws unsheathed. You have to make sure your jump is calculated, because then you have to hook your claws onto a lower branch. The tricky part is that you can't _just_ let your claws stop your fall. You need to make sure to go with the momentum that you have already built up and let yourself swing after very quickly sheathing your claws back as you let go of the branch before your claws have the time to get twisted." He finally ended his instructions, and Icepaw braced herself for another set of instructions from her mentor, who she had learned a while ago explained everything more thoroughly than most mentor.

Surprisingly, The brown tom did not continue talking, instead looking pensively up at the huge maple tree that stood before them. Meanwhile, Icepaw was busy calculating all the flaws to this move. First of all, it was very probable to get a twisted or ripped claw if she missed her target or backed away from the move to soon out of fright. Then, if any miscalculations were made, she could get caught on another branch, or injured for that matter, or even just get her concentration shattered. Finally, although she was still busy finding other dangerous aspects of the moves, one that seemed more probable was probably the most obvious. It would be _quite_ easy to end up just falling.

Then again, Icepaw had always loved the sensation of the wind rushing through her fur as she wove the the web of branches owned by each different tree, and the triumphant feeling of getting higher of the ground with the narrow but steady surface underneath her had always felt comforting, like a secretive presence of safety and adventure. She tore her gaze away from the random spot she had been staring off at in a distance, an old and gnarled oak tree, she noted, when her mentor's eyes suddenly snapped back to her.

"We will be practicing in the willow near the stream, but first I will be demonstrating the move on this willow tree," he mewed.

Once again, Icepaw nodded, and eyes shining with pride, the green-eyed tom leaped up to one of the branches not too far above the lowest branch. Repetitively sheathing and u sheathing his claws, while concentrating on the branch that was about four tail-lengths below. Then, he jumped, brown fur falling in a dusty blur, front paws reaching out to the branch before him as time seemed to go by in slow motion. She saw the gleam of his claws in the sun, briefly u sheathing to hook onto the branch and keep his motion going. The, the gleam was gone, his claws sheathed, and he was letting himself fall from that branch and onto the ground in a slightly diagonal motion. Backing away slowly, she watched as he pivoted mid-air, landing with bent for-legs and letting them drag through the earth before his back laws also landed, which he used to spring back up into a fighting stance.

"When in an actual battle, you can try to land on your opponent, but if you do make sure to be positioned in a manner that would allow you to remain stable in the case of a cat dodging your attack," The brown tom mewed.

Once again, Icepaw nodded before following the brown tom, who seemed to have given up on trying to get a response to his comments.

* * *

The stream was not particularly close to the border, but Icepaw knew that it was fed from the gorge river, which was said to have flooded moons ago. She sniffed the air, but found no trace of rain in the air, and there was no breeze to bring in storm clouds. Lifting her head to where her mentor was grinning in satisfaction, she caught up to him, closing the distance she had gained from trailing behind. Before her stood a bubbling stream, barely one tail-length deep. When she gazed at it she found herself entranced in a dream-like peacefulness, but for some reason she couldn't find, a small piece of foreboding drifted around her mind.

Shaking herself, she bounded towards her mentor, who was impatiently waving his tail as he waited for her to join him next the a willow tree. The latter was taller than many of the few willow trees that she had seen in her life. It had thick, sturdy branches, yet Icepaw could tell that they would be easy to dig her claws into, and from the edges of the thicker parts spread a delicate web of sweeping branches, recognizable from the one that were occasionally brought back to camp to build dens.

"So, since this will be your first time trying this technique I decided that it might be nice to try it here, the branches are sturdy but soft, and if ever you fall there is always the stream to catch you." Dustfur echoed Icepaw's logic, "Start by finding a branch to start from and we'll go from there."

Padding up to the silvery tree, which glowed golden underneath the sun's honey-coloured rays, she nimbly unsheathed her claws and leaped to the first branch. Evaluating the branches above, she finally found one that was above another branch that trailed directly over the stream. Luckily for her, the space between them was only taken up by small branches, almost twig-like, and she could jump through them without more than perhaps a scratch if she was careful.

"How about that one," She mewed, pointing to it, "Then I can jump to that one," she gestured to the next branch, which was about three tail-lengths above the water.

"Sounds good to me!" He answered, "Just be careful."

Leaping from branch to branch, ignoring the bits of leaves and twigs catching in her fur, she lifted her eyes to scan the landscape below her when she finally found a stable hold on the branch she had chosen. With the sun softly dappling everything and the stream glowing while sending little ripples across pebbles, which also sent glints of light reflecting back to her eyes, and she blinked, taking a moment to get used to all the light flashing before her eyes.

She gazed back down at her mentor, who was copying her move, apart from the fact that he was looking up, and that's when she had a flash. It lasted only a heartbeat, but it was freakishly clear and Icepaw's breath caught in her throat. Another willow tree, another river, his time surrounding by incoming clouds that indicated a storm in the future. Then, it was gone, and she was left staring at the small river and older willow tree, sky clear and sunny.

"You ready?" Dustfur asked, green eyes squinted against the glare of the sun.

"Yes!" She yowled back, measuring the space between her branch and the next one.

Sheathing her claws, she used her long back legs, long for such a small cat anyways, to jump down where the next branch was awaiting. She half-closed her eyes to avoid getting blinded by a branch and pleaded herself to be in the right position to not crash into the branch. When she saw that her front paws were about to hit the branch and that she only had a couple of minor scratches, she let out a sigh of relief as well as thanking her unusually fluffy, long and sleek fur for shielding her from harm. A moment later she quickly unsheathed her claws as a small jolt of panic ran through her. In another flash the water beneath her no longer looked gentle and soothing, the rushing torrents gathering together to uproot greenery and flood land. A over her lightning thundered overhead and she cringed before shaking her head. This unfortunately did nothing to help the situation as although she was back to reality, her focus had faltered and she found herself desperately scrabbling at the wood, and failing to get a hold.

Everything seemed to blur as the startled gasp from her mentor was lost amidst the air rushing through her ears as she fell into the water, and echoing gasp lost beneath the water as the icy water closed around her. Fighting the murky waters of the storm, she flailed desperately as the looming shape of a tree passed near her, the the image faded, and she was left drenched inside a clear stream of water with a peaceful day and a silvery-golden willow trees sweeping gracefully next to her.

She spluttered back to the surface, and couldn't help but stand there in the water for a moment, wondering what exactly had just happened, mind storming through possibilities as she did what cats often referred to as her 'day-dreaming'. She got lost in thought.

 **Just to mention, I am taking the liberty of inventing and changing parts of the warrior cats' territories and battle moves. It just helps me with not needing to check everything every time I want to write a descriptive sentence. Anyways, let's just say that this is much earlier than Cloudstar's reign and that everything was slightly different back then. (Apart from the course of the river, I totally invented that one to my advantage).**

 **Please review or pm or send ocs?**


	5. Allegiances

**Before you read this, please note that I will probably made one or two physically impossible cats, and I don't really care much (no pink cats and purple cats though).**

 **Pandean: What Icepaw has is asthma, and I can't tell you why she's seeing things, that would totally ruin a part of the story:). Thank you for your OCs; they will appear at the next gathering and hold roles in the story although it may take a while. Oh, and you did not describe the kits of Crowpelt so I invented them while tying to make them similar to their parents (and I gave Crowpelt yellow eyes).**

 **Cascade of Raining Ice: Thank you for the OCs, there is a reason why Duskfrost isn't deputy... Yet. Don't worry though it's all planned out 0-0.**

 **I-really-hope-not: Thank you for the OCs, there is no problem with them:). I even have important plans for one of them (*mysterious laugh*) lol.**

Skyclan:

Leader:

Pebblestar: Dark grey she-cat with amber eyes.

Deputy:

Tallbark: Dark brown tabby tom with very dark green eyes.

Medicine cats:

Fernmist: Blue-grey she-cat with green eyes.

Waterpetal: Silver tabby she-cat with a whiteish-grey chest and paws and bright green eyes.

Warriors:

Branchinglight: Dark brown she-cat with odd eyes.

Lightheart: White she-cat with yellow eyes.

Nettlefur: Blue-grey tom with wild fur and yellow eyes.

Twigleap: Small pale brown she-cat with grass-green eyes.

Oakpelt: Yellow tom with amber eyes.

Dustfur: Brown tom with fur that takes on a shade that makes it look dusty with green eyes.

Mallowfrost: Solid dark grey tom with sky blue eyes (Cascade).

Duskfrost: Dark grey tabby with one white paw and icy blue eyes (Cascade).

Mossflight: Tortoiseshell with green eyes and white chest.

Twistedleap: White she-cat with amber eyes(twisted left front paw).

Rosethorn: Cream coloured she-cat with amber eyes.(Declawed by twolegs).

Stonejump: Black tom with grey eyes and strangely large paws.

Pineclaw: Black and white spotted tom with dark amber eyes.

Mousepelt: Brown and white spotted tom with yellow eyes.

White-ember: White she-cat with small brown speckles going from her head to her tail-tip down her back. One blue eye one green eye.

Burrfur: Blue-grey tom with white paws and yellow eyes.

Frostpaw: White she-cat with black paws, ears and tail-tips, blue eyes with hidden scar on her throat (Thank you I-really-hope-not, that last feature gave me a good plot-point idea!)

Sunpaw: Tall tom with long golden fur, white chest, and blue-grey eyes. (I-really-hope-not).

Stormpaw: Pale grey she-cat with darker spots and blue eyes. Scar on muzzle. (I-really-hope-not)

Flamepaw: Calico she-cat with green eyes.

Whitepaw: White tom with green eyes and one black paw (no sense of smell).

Redpaw: Redish-grey tom with blue eyes.

Icepaw: Solid grey she-cat (her fur grows more silvery-white in green-leaf) with one black paw and bright blue-grey eyes.

Queens: Lakepool: Cream and white tabby she-cat with blue eyes.

Kits: (Note that Rosekit is now Sparrowkit, I hadn't noticed that the name was the same as another cat until later).

Sparrowkit: Brown tabby tom with amber eyes and white chest (no tail).

Larkkit: White she-kit with blue eyes.

Blackkit: Black she-kit with a ginger forepaw, ear, and tail-tip as well as amber eyes.

Elders:

Milkeye: Cream tabby tom with strangely white-ish yellow eyes.

Barkwhisker: Yellow tom with amber eyes.

Shadowclan:

Leader:

Nightstar: Black she-cat with white paws, muzzle, and tail top and icy blue eyes.

Deputy:

Blueshade: Blue-grey she-cat with grey eyes.

Medicine cat:

Warriors:

Blackspeck: 'salt and pepper' coloured she-cat with blue eyes.

Mintfang: Tortoiseshell with heather-coloured eyes, a torn ear, and long legs and tail. (Pandean).

Darksun: Black she-cat with golden eyes. (Sunlight sensitive eyes) (Pandean).

Willowclaw: Brown tom with amber eyes.

Nolight: Black she-cat, reputated to be the strangest car in the clan.

Steelclaw: Grey tabby to tom with blue eyes, former rogue.

Hollowfeather: Dark brown she-cat with grey-green eyes.

Redtail: Grey tabby tom with an orange tail-tip and blue eyes.

Gingerstep: Pale grey she-cat with ginger paws, tail-tip, and ear.

Seedwhisp: Pale ginger she-cat with amber eyes.

Flareshade: Redish-brown tom with yellow eyes.

Parsleyclaw: Ginger and white spotted tom.

Whitefoot: Black tom with white paws, one of which he can not feel nor move.

Poisonberry: Albino she-cat (white with red eyes).

Redpine: Red tom with green eyes (blind).

Apprentices:

Tanglepaw: Pale ginger she-cat with white chest, paws, and muzzle.

Bubblepaw: Yellow and white spotted she-cat with black paws and tail-tip.

Marshpaw: Dark brown tabby tom with amber eyes.

Sharpeye: Ginger tabby tom with blue eyes.

Queens:

Crowpelt: Black she-cat with yellow eyes.

Kits:

Mistkit: Very dark grey she-kit with yellow eyes.

Fernkit: Black she-kit with brown paws and tail-tip and golden eyes.

Hazelkit: Dark brown she-kit with hazel (green-brown) eyes.

Jayshade: Dark blue-grey she-cat with pale blue eyes.

Kits:

Mintkit: Pale grey dappled dark grey and silver she-kit with green eyes.

Needlekit: Ginger tom with blue eyes.

Greenkit: Blue-grey tom with green eyes.

Elders:

Greytooth: Tortoiseshell she-cat with grey eyes.

Darkfang: Black and grey tabby tom with white chest and amber eyes.

Ashtail: Ginger tom with grey tail-tip and eyes.

Thunderclan:

Leader:

Goldstar: Golden tabby she-cat with amber eyes and a white chest, paws, and muzzle.

Deputy:

Lightningfoot: Brown tom with yellow patches, white paws, and amber eyes.

Warriors:

Redlight: Red she-cat with black patches, white chest, and grey eyes.

Bluepatch: white she-cat with a blue-grey tail-tip and blue eyes.

Darkscarlet: Silver she-cat with black and red patches and green eyes (broken tail at the tip, very bad balance).

Lizardleap: Calico she-cat with green eyes.

Yellowstripe: Red tabby tom with green eyes(blind).

Yarrowstep: Grey she-cat with yellow eyes.

Clearshadow: Pure white she-cat with blue eyes.

Coyotefoot: Grey and brown tom with amber eyes.

Tigerspot: Orange Tom with black tabby markings and amber eyes.

Robinscreech: Redish-brown tom with green eyes.

Patchedpelt: Calico tom with blue eyes.

Ravenstreak: White she-cat with black streaks and paws and blue eyes.

Loudspots: White tom with ginger patches and amber eyes.

Parsleyclaw: Pale brown tom with copper eyes.

Jaggedtooth: Black and white tom with green eyes(with a fang that grows over his jaw at a strange angle and a crooked jaw he had from birth, hindering hunting and fighting).

Apprentices:

Softpaw: Grey-brown she-cat with blue eyes(identical twin of Fluffypaw).

Fluffypaw: Brown-grey she-cat with blue eyes(identical twin of Softpaw).

Shadepaw: Dark grey-brown tom with yellow eyes.

Queens:

Fernheart: Tortoiseshell she-cat with green eyes.

Kits:

Speckledkit: White and brown she-kit with ginger specks surrounded by golden lines and copper eyes.

Copperkit: Dark brown she-kit with orange eyes (copper is an actual cat eye-colour).

Sootkit: Very dark grey she-kit with blue eyes.

Grasskit: White and brown tom with blue eyes.

Woodpaw: Dark brown tom with copper eyes.

Elders:

Slatefoot: Grey she-cat with black paws, tail-tip, and blue eyes.

Tallfoot: Black tom cat with grey spots and amber eyes.

Pineclaw: Dark brown tabby tom with green eyes.

Windclan:

Leader:

Harestar: Light brown tabby tom with white chest and paws and green eyes.

Deputy:

Gingerleap: Gingery-brown tom with yellow eyes.

Medecine cat:

Rabbitfall: Ginger tabby she-cat with yellow eyes.

Warriors:

Tawnyhawk: Brown gingery and white dappled she-cat with grey eyes.

Owlfeather: White she-cat with brown and grey specks and bluish-green eyes.

Eaglecry: Golden-brown she-cat with grey spots, white paws, and blue eyes.

Lightingstorm: Cream she-cat with blue eyes and grey paws and tail-tip (No feeling in three paws because of a fight she had as an apprentice).

Cloudrain: White she-cat white pale grey streaks of fur and blue eyes.

Snakecall: Brown she-cat with green eyes and white paws.

Alderlight: Cream tabby she-cat with green eyes.

Grassbreeze: Pale brown she-cat with white chest, paws, and muzzle and green eyes.

Clawstrike: Yellow tom with green eyes.

Blacktail: Ginger tom with black tail and amber eyes.

Adderfang: White tom with yellow eyes.

Reedash: Dark grey tabby tom with amber-green eyes.

Rockrunner: Brown tabby tom with grey paws and blue eyes.

Brownear: White tom with one brown ear and yellow eyes.

Foldedclaw: Black tom with curled ears and amber eyes (an American curl).

Apprentices:

Gladepaw: Pale grey she-cat with green eyes.

Meadowpaw: Pale brown she-cat with green eyes.

Foxpaw: Ginger tom with black paws, tail-tip, and muzzle with amber eyes.

Badgerpaw: Black and white tom with blue eyes.

Queens:

Driftingleaf: Pale grey tabby she-cat with blue eyes.

Kits:

Heatherkit: Pale brown tabby she-kit with blue eyes.

Lavenderkit: Pale brown she-kit with a white chest, paws, and muzzle and blue eyes.

Lionkit: Yellow tabby tom with amber eyes.

Whitekit: White tom with amber eyes.

Elders:

Lilyfur: White she-cat with blue eyes.

Darkpatch: White tom with a black patch on his side and yellow eyes.

Orangefang: Orange tabby tom with yellow eyes.

Riverclan:

Leader:

Blackstar: Black tom with dark green eyes.

Deputy:

Brookpath: Brown tabby and white she-cat with blue eyes.

Medecine cat:

Swallownose: Red tabby tom with green eyes.

Warriors:

Alderstripe: White tom with grey tabby stripes and amber eyes.

Greyfeather: Dark grey tabby she-cat with amber eyes.

Shadowfern: Calico she-cat with dark green eyes(limps on left paw).

Streamfur: White she-cat with blue-grey stripes.

Sleetfall: Grey tabby with blue eyes.

Echolight: Silvery-white tabby with green eyes.

Ebonyeye : White she-cat with extremely dark blue eyes.

Greyflash: Cream she-cat with one grey stripe of fur and grey eyes.

Quickeye: Brown and white she-cat with green eyes.

Mudpelt: Dark brown tabby tom with amber eyes.

Hailfoot: Grey tom with white paws and blue eyes.

Floodfur: Blue-grey tabby tom with unusually, or so at least for a Riverclan cat, fur and green eyes.

Troutflight: Yellow tom with amber eyes.

Sunstrike: Yellow tabby tom with amber eyes.

Apprentices:

Reedpaw: Dark ginger tabby tom with green eyes.

Gingerpaw: Ginger tabby she-cat with green eyes.

Goldpaw: Grey tabby tom with golden eyes(half of whiskers burnt off in a forest fire after the short time of dryness after the flood during a thunderstorm with barely any rain).

Queens:

Morningdew: Ginger and white spotted she-cat with blue eyes.

Kits:

Firkit: Brown tabby she-kit with green eyes.

Spotkit: Spotted brown and white tom with green eyes.

Elders:

Lynxpelt: Tortoiseshell she-cat with grey eyes.

Badgerstripe: Ginger tabby tom with grey eyes.

Cats outside the clans:

Day: Pale brown tabby she-cat with copper-coloured eyes.

Night: Black tabby she cat (greyish stripes barely visible), with blue eyes.

Morning: Dark brown tabby she-cat with orange eyes.

Evening (Eve): Dark grey she-cat with silver swirls (a tabby pattern) and copper-coloured eyes.

Eclipse: Black she-cat with redish-tint to her fur, a white right front paw, and grey eyes.

Twilight: Blue-grey she-cat with copper-coloured eyes.

Patches: Calico she-kit with green eyes.

 **(And more... that will appear later so that I don't have to ruin my plot).**

 **And now so that this does not break any rules, I wrote a random guess and name the cat. Feel free to review about it. It is not my best work, it's really just to be able to not break the rules.**

GTC:

I think the only thing that needs to be said is:

 _Bossy cat, originally barn cat, raised by the thundering forest._

NTC: A fluffy dark brown she-cat with one black paw and green eyes. Is thoughtful but also stubborn and easily annoyed.

 **Please review, you can still send in OCs such as fugues, loners, kittypets... Dark forest cats Starclan cats etc etc.. thanks for (well probably not reading since allegiances are sort of long) reading!**


	6. Beyond the Trees

**Bonjour! Les prochain quartes chapitres sont planifiés. La traduction de la Guerre des clans en français est... So so in the French version Leafpool is Moonleaf, Cherrytail is Cherrywing, Greystripe is Greyfeather, Ivypool is Lily-I-don't-know-what-because-I-stopped-reading-French-warrior-books, Apprentices are not paws, they are clouds, and kits are not kits, they are smalls or paws, BUT warriors can also be called Small, Paw, and Cloud. Anyways, it's different.**

 **Well, that was random, anyways, Hi! I have the next four chapter's plot planned, no more writer's block!**

 **For the random guess and name the cat. Yes, it was Berrynose, everyone got it right, and I liked all the NTCs:).**

 **Pandean: Thank you for the OCs, I will make them appear later on**

 **I-really-hope-not: I just noticed I left out a previous OC of yours, oops, I'll make sure it come in to the story later. Also, thank you for the new OCs, I especially like Heatherflame, to be honest you just might have given me yet another plot point.**

 **Cascade of Raining Ice: Thanks!**

 **On with the story. And for the people who didn't read some of the writing in my last chapter, what Icepaw has is asthma.**

 **DREAMS, THOUGHTS, AND THINGS OUT OF MAIN CHARACTER'S POINT OF VIEW ARE IN MAINLY IN ITALIC.**

Icepaw stood in the water for a moment, blinking the water out of her eyes and thanking her thick fur for the way it blocked out most of the freezing water, leaving her with only the annoying feeling of wet fur. Shaking herself, she scrambled out of the water to see Dustfur running towards her.

"Are you okay?" He asked.

"Fine," she mewed, "The stream gave me a good landing," she mewed, hiding the evident panic she had felt beneath the influence of the flickering scene. The sun was already beginning to warm her back, and at those words of confirmation, her mentor grinned again, and Icepaw held in a laughing sigh, already predicting what would come next.

"Well, from what I could see through all these leaves, perhaps I should've went for something other than a willow, you evidently lost focus. For this move it is very important that you concentrate because it can be dangerous if your claws snag. Now you can try that again and then we'll go practice one of the more basic moves, also more ideal to use in battle as it takes less time and calculation ," Dustfur mewed.

Nodding, Icepaw unsheathed her claws once more swiftly reaching the branch she had previously used for the battle move. She hesitated before looking down, confusion creeping through her thoughts with the memory of the storm scene. Now that she had time to think about it what she had seen was freakishly similar to what Waterpetal had described as the flood night from nearly seven moons back. She clearly remembered the silver tabby shudder as she told her of uprooted trees and flooded camps. She let out an inaudible breath of relief when the mirroring waters, echoing the soft silver and golden shades of the sun, faced her, the unclear waters long since left behind.

Inching closer to the middle of the branch, she peered down through the rows of un-orderly branches, with the light of the sun they almost looked like a silver web, or as one might say, the intricate paths of destiny, if there was such a thing. Focusing on the branch beneath her, a hint of her stubborn pride showing through, she made a task out of not failing.

Adjusting her paws beneath her, she first let go of the branch with her front paws, thrusting them forward while using the movement to find the right moment Toledo down completely. Once again ignoring the minor scratches she was getting from her fall through the growth, she unsheathed her claws once again, holding back her instincts to scramble for a hold, which were unusual for a Skyclan cat. Squinting her eyes in fear of getting one scratched, she reached for the branch she had been aiming for, digging her long claws into it. Exhilaration and feet seemed to combine as she swung down from the branch diagonally, not failing to note the bit of sharp pain that came with bending her claws the wrong way until she let go.

Time seemed to slow as she fell, a feeling that she was beginning to feel familiar with, an opportunity to evaluate what was happening in battle, or so that was an example she named when asked.

The tricky part of the move turned out to be the landing. It was a part of the technique to use her momentum to avoid breaking her claws, but the omitted detail was that that momentum kept her going until she was in danger of landing flat on her back. Striking out forward with a front paw in attempt to regain whatever balance she could possess in thin air, she found herself hitting the still cold from leaf-bare water with all four paws, although her back paws brushed the surface first, however much Dustfur had demonstrated by landing with his front paws first.

Instead of jumping right back up to the surface, she found herself opening her eyes underwater, surprised not to find the sting that other apprentices described while complaining about swimming lingering there. A glint caught her eye, and she reached down to where a small grey pebble engraved with tiny pieces of quarts. Unsheathing her claws, she hooked them onto the rock and tried to hauled it upwards, careful not to let it fall back down. The oxygen in her was making her rise again, she realized, and she struggled to get a good grip and the pebble, not wanting to go back yet.

At that moment, she gasped, letting the last of her oxygen supply escape through her mouth as jaws clamped around her scruff and hauled her to the surface while she flailed to get free out of instinct. Breaking the surface, she gasped for breath, finally finding back the familiar need for more air. Then, she looked around to see her mentor glaring at her.

"Are you _trying_ to drown!" He yowled, long fur bristling as he paced before her.

"I was fine." She muttered.

"You have to be careful." He stated the obvious, "Skyclan cats can't swim."

Icepaw bristled, but didn't protest.

"Let's just get back to camp. You can clean out the elders den and then eat." Dustfur sighed.

_ Linebreak

Back at camp, Dustfur dismissed her with exasperation in his tone, making sure she kg

New that she was to collect moss with Frostpaw and clean out the elder's den. Spotting Frostpaw at the edge of the clearing with her littermates, feasting on a finch, she retreated to the far end of the clearing, underneath a looming oak tree, and waited for the white she-cat to finish eating.

Having nothing else to do, Icepaw scanned the clearing. It was mainly empty, she noticed. Pebblestar was sitting on high-branch, watching over the clan while muttering things underneath her breath. So she wasn't the only one watching. Moments later, Fernmist padded out of the medicine cat den with what Icepaw recognized as thyme. Holding her breath, Icepaw watched as the blue-grey she-cat padded over to the leader. The latter only hissed, unsheathing her claws with a mad look on her face as Fernmist carefully backed down from the tree.

Icepaw would have like to be shocked, but it wasn't uncommon knowledge that the dark grey tabby leader sanity looked to have been lacking, although who knew how much of that was false rumours. Mostly cats just left her alone, muttering occasionally about the fact that they needed a strong leader like perhaps the deputy, Tallbark. Turning a watchful eye somewhere else, her gaze locked with Frostpaw's who had not joined in to the constant chatter of Sunpaw and Stormpaw, icy blue eyes staring at each other, evaluating each movement.

One thing was for sure, Frostpaw had not missed a single one of the anomalies that revolved around the clans. What she did not know is if Frostpaw had noticed something that she had not, for the she-cat seemed to lose focus less easily than she did. Or so, it was not exactly that she lost focus, no- it was more because she sometimes focused on something so much that it led her to different paths and the outside world got shut out by her thoughts. However much she would have liked to describe herself to... herself; she knew there was no way of explaining one's being with words. Now about Frostpaw, she had no way of knowing what the blue-eyed she-cat thought.

Thinking of Frostpaw, the following had dipped her head to her littermates and was padding over to her. Instead of talking, the she-cat simply sat down, evidently waiting for them to leave. Why the she-cat rarely talked was a mystery. She was not shy, every cat knew that, but she still barely spoke, and when she did, her voice was raspy, as though it had gone dry from underuse.

Without speaking a word, Frostpaw padded off to the forest, signalling for Icepaw to go the other way- North. Nearly sighing in relief, veered to the direction of an old and unused two-leg path that she knew was lined with boulders on the side, boulders that were covered in particularly soft moss.

As usual, she did not let her guard down, gaze sweeping the forest around her ears straining to catch suspect sounds, and mouth open to catch more smells. There was no way she was letting any cat surprise her at the edge of her territory. All that came back to her was the perpetual rustling of leaves overhead and the chirping of the returning birds filling the air with their sound. She noticed that the breeze was not particularly strong, and was confused when she noticed a nearby burch trees leaves swaying more intently that the rest, the sound like a bug at the corner of her ears. Turning around, she stared intently at the birch for a moment, looking for a sign, any sign, that something was there that shouldn't have been there.

A creeping sense of suspicion rose in her mind as the tree just as suddenly stopped moving. Taking one step closer to the pale figure of it, all while hesitating, doubt clashing in her mind as many different possibilities arose. It could have been a squirrel, she might be being paranoiac. Then again, it could be any cat, or it could be Fernmist-what if she had found something out? What if Swallownose had- Why was she even thinking about the insane red tom? Why did she even think she was being stalked in her own land.

Taking another step, she lifted her head, staring intently at the tree in a way that she knew freaked Flamepaw, her calico littermate, out. She blinked, thinking she must be imagining the flash of bright white she could see concealed behind the tree. By now it was more than simply possible that something was hiding there. A that moment, a stronger breeze flowed through the branches of the spindly tree, rattling its branches yet seeming to leave other trees in peace. Shaking her head in confusion, Icepaw turned away, heading back to her destination, failing to properly take notice of the scene unraveling behind her.

But what what doesn't see is not what one doesn't know.

_linebreak

 _A sunlit tree stood out in the middle of the forest, spindly and immaculately white._

 _It's leaves yellow-green, tinted and shaded like a sketch made from shadow and light themselves._

 _The sky clear, sending dapples of light down onto the forest floor in a delicate pattern, giving everything a star-like glow._

 _Before the tree stands a cat, with fluffy silvery-white fur,hesitantly stepping forward._

 _But the fur of the individual is not what catches the eye, no- the eyes themselves are._

 _Stormy grey with a hint of sky-blue and tiny green and brown dapples._

 _Although the tree is the focus, not the cat._

 _Or perhaps the focus is beyond the tree, to what hides inside._

 _A moment later, and a gust of wind ruffles the grey she-cat's fur, rattling the still-young tree's branches together._

 _The other cat then turns away, shaking her head in confusion._

 _The cat did not see, she was already walking stiffly away, but the onlooker did._

 _For just a heartbeat, the branches parented to reveal a white she-cat, paws, ears, and tail-tip ebony black with eyes of a sky blue._

 _Her long fur swayed with the tree, revealing a hidden scar, remain of deep and jagged wound._

 _The cats eyes flickered in surprise and relief for a moment, then regain the calm composure, cold and calculating._

 _Then the branches stopped moving, and the cat slunk back down to the bottom of the tree, following a path of shadows to the south, failing to notice the faint glow that came with the breeze, like glowing embers mingled with the light of the stars, although any being could tell that this creature had nothing to do with any ancestors._

 _The scene shifted again, the light fading to a turmoil of muddy blue as the onlooker struggled through the current, desperate to escape the predicament looking before her. She felt herself jostled from side to side, surprised to feel no pain there despite the overpowering fear that took hold of her._

 _She gasped, oxygen escaping her screaming lungs as a massive shape started slowly inching towards her path, then much faster, until it was crashing through the murky waters, until it had crashed into her and the scene went black. Or so the scene went black moments after a glowing like fading embers sparked above her, as bright as the brightest star, before retreating as darkened too over._

_Linebreak_

Icepaw woke up with a jolt, the panic of the dream slowly fading but the memory of it vivid as ever. It had been the same scene she had seen while training. And from the corner of her eyes, she could see sky blue eyes gleaming, cold and calculating. There was something more about the flood night, she knew, something that other cats were keeping from her.

 **And, another chapter completed! Please read and review!**

 **QOTD: What do you think about Frostpaw and the dreams?**


	7. River's Shadow

**I posted this a while ago, then realized my FFN was glitching so I deleted it then posted it again.**

 **Well, here's another chapter:). Please note that this is the older version of Skyclan, back when they could have their own dens.**

 **I-really-hope-not: Well, you could say... (I can't reveal anything, but it will end up making sense later).**

 **For people who sent OC: Duskfrost's will have a more important role as of next chapter, Darksun and Mintfang the chapter after the next chapter, and Stormpaw in around six chapters as well as this chapter. Then they all get another role later for the _ (I'm not giving away my plot).**

 **The plot for the next twelve chapters is planned.**

 **I disapprove of my OCs' judgment, all the cats deserve to be treated as equals...**

"May all cats old enough to catch their own prey gather here beneath tall-tree for a meeting!"

Icepaw woke with a start from her light sleep, filled with fading dreams, or at least all but a few, to Pebblestar's summons. Hissing as her paw caught onto one of her den's brambles, she got up, blinking the blurriness from her eyes. She was surprised to see that the first rays of dawn were barely peaking at the horizon, her breath frosting in small clouds before her. She gave her silvery pelt a quick grooming before scrambling down the tree that sheltered her small nest.

Skidding to a halt in the camp's clearing, she craned her neck to try to see what was going on before all the gathered cats, then gave up and simply listened, curiosity sparking her interest as she thought through the possibilities of reasons to be gathering before the dawn patrol even left. She knew that if it was nothing important cats would be whispering about their leader again- and not in an approving manner.

"Cats of Skyclan!" The dark grey she-cat mewed, her voice echoing through the silent forest, uninterrupted by all but the silent song of waking birds through the frosty morning dew, and Icepaw drew closer to Flamepaw, who was at the edge of the clearing, to get a better view.

"What do you think this is about?" She whispered, and Flamepaw whipped around, not having noticed her earlier.

The calico tilted her deaf pensively to the foggy outline of their leader before turning back to her, "We are talking about Pebblestar here, it could be anything." She answered.

"It's the gathering tonight." Icepaw offered.

"Announcing that so early?" Flamepaw echoed her thoughts, calico pelt fluffing out against the cold.

"My thoughts exactly," she expressed her annoyance at being up so early, especially for a gathering day. Then again, she knew that once she was up there was no way she was going back to sleep.

After that seeing the shift of anticipation in the crowd and Pebblestar bracing herself for a speech, the two she-cats silenced, siting side by side yet keeping silent.

" Amongst us are two new warriors," Pebblestar's amber eyes gleamed, "Redpaw, Whitepaw, step forward." The littermates exchanged a glace of surprise, Whitepaw bracing himself for what he knew was inevitable and a few murmurs of disapproval could be heard throughout the camp, which only seemed to add a blaze through the leader's eyes, " I'm the leader, deal with it." She snapped.

Amusement shot through Icepaw's mind as a few cats purred while others gaped in shock. Satisfied, Pebblestar continued, "I Pebblestar, leader of ri-Skyclan," the stutter went by so fast that Icepaw's attentive ears barely caught it. _Was she about to say Rigerclan?!_ Icepaw narrowed her eyes, but only a few warriors shared a puzzled glance before shrugging it off. Turning her gaze to the far other side of the crowd, she spotted a look of surprise in Waterpetal's eye, which then changed into a look of distance.

Out of moral, Icepaw knew that questioning cats about touchy subjects never went well, and it gave her a certain mix of exasperation, annoyance, and frustration when she couldn't get the information that she sought. Out of curiosity, she knew that she would be seeking Mossflight's advice. She probably wouldn't get answers out of Waterpetal anyway. The grey tabby would just sigh and send her off again. The medicine cat supported her more than many thought was usual, but she remain secretive and cut-off from the clan.

Then came in the next issue, which was whether or not she was completely wrong off-the-top and their leader was actually crazy and she was inventing mysteries when there were none and-

So she wasn't inventing mysteries out of thin air, or at least not all of them, there was still the issue of the cats who were never giving a category. Mostly just called abnormal. The medicine cats and leaders acted as if it was normal, taking on a distant look every time it was mentioned, or a spark of fury lighting their eyes as they snapped back at a protesting cat. No, they were not to be trained, but no, they were not a danger to the clan, that rumour had been dismissed as soon as it was formed. Although judging from Riverclan's reputation...

 _"-Call upon my,"_ that was the only part that Icepaw had zoned out on and she sighed in relief, for some reason she couldn't quite pin she was actually interested in the ceremony.

"-Warrior ancestors to look down on these apprentices. They have trained hard to understand the ways of your noble code and I commend them to you as warriors in their turn. Redpaw, Whitepaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code and protect your clan, even at the cost of your life?"

 _Names,_

"I do!" Redpaw loudly stated, earning a small glare from a few of the most senior warriors.

"I do," Echoed Whitepaw, more solemnly, although his eyes glimmered in confusion and simmering anger.

"Then by the powers given to me by Starclan, I give you your warrior names. Redpaw, step forward," The reddish brown tom bounded eagerly towards the leader, "From this day forward you shall be known as Redheart, Starclan honours your honesty and skill, and welcomes you as a full warrior of Skyclan." The newly-named warriors eyes gleamed in content.

"Whitepaw, step forward," The white and black tom did not rush, walking slowly towards the leader before coming to an abrupt stop, eyes free of all but a spark is happiness, "From this day forward you will be known as Whiteclaw, Starclan honours your bravery and determination and welcomes you as a full warrior of Skyclan!" The leader lifted her head to the skies as the clan's voices mingled to form a single, slightly off-key cheer that made Icepaw's ears fold back against her head.

"Redheart! Whiteclaw! Redheart! Whiteclaw!"

Afterwards, cats began to disperse, confused at a forgotten detain while as Pebblestar back away slightly, muttering under her breath.

"Does it seem to any of you like I said meeting dismissed?" The dark grey she-cat suddenly added dryly while cats awkwardly murmured while settling back down to listen.

By now it was obvious that this would be the classical gossip hour as soon as the meeting was over, but Icepaw had no intention to stay there and listen. Whether she was going to train or she got the day off because of the gathering. If she did, she would spend some time fixing her den for upcoming green-leaf. Chances were, she wouldn't be going to the gathering, she had gone last time for her first moon of apprenticeship after all. Then, she was actually hoping to be chosen, not to be able to socialize, but mainly to be able to get informed. She liked knowing what was going on around her, perhaps it wasn't a good thing that she didn't always like minding her own business, but then again, it proved to be entertaining.

Icepaw knew what the forgotten detail was. Whitepaw. His sense of smell was of little next to none. She knew he deserved to be a warrior, but then again... The other cats would surely disapprove. The thoughts lingered at the corner of her mind, and she gritted her teeth, pelt bristling while Flamepaw spared her a small glance. She forced her fur to lie flat, annoyed at the idea of revealing her thoughts to any cat so easily.

The clan leader did do as every cat expected. She did not say anything at all about the newly named warriors. "As we all know, tonight is the gathering." She growled softly.

"The cats attending will be Tallbark, Duskfrost, Dustfur, Stonejump, White-Ember,Burrfur, Flamepaw, Icepaw, Sunpaw, the elders who want to come, the newly named warriors, and... Rosethorn."

Icepaw let out a breath of happiness, glad to be going to the gathering. She already knew a good spot to go unnoticed, although intended to visit Fourtrees more thoroughly now that she had some sense of knowledge about the night. On her first gathering, although it was not what she had intended, she had stayed close to Mossflight as if pinesap blinded their pelts. Her calico mother had not seemed bothered by this, and Icepaw had wanted to disappear underground when Pebblestar had announced her name.

She wasn't so completely unaware of her surroundings that she failed to notice a few confused glances at that mentioned, as well as the split second too long it took for the cheering to begin. She had shook it off as paranoia, but the fact was still there, it wasn't as easy as shedding fur in leaf-bare.

Seeing as the cats weren't moving, hesitantly rooted to the spot, Pebblestar let out an exasperated sigh, "Meeting dismissed! All cats going to the gathering may have the day off!" The added, "Do I need to tell you how to do everything?" And earning a few purrs of amusement as she muttered on her way back to her den, which was sheltered in an elderberry bush.

The leader completely ignored the murmurs of protest; about Whiteclaw, about the early hour, about her sanity. Icepaw averted her gaze to the white and black tom, who stood dejectedly at the edge of the clearing while a few cats glared and others purred congratulations.

Stomach churning with a feeling similar to guilt, she silently slithered back out of the crowd. She leaped up the maple tree that sheltered her den, digging her claws in the bark before leaping, and came to inspect her den. She had sealed it off with moss-bits during leaf-care, and she could see that the plants she had used were withered, all but the ivy leaves, which were now covered in blooming buds that draped over her den and swept down to the forest floor below.

Now that it was new-leaf, she would remove the moss and add fresh bracken and willow leaves and branches. That way the leaves would shelter her from the rain yet not block out the light completely, as the moss did now, although it was dried and yellow and many gaps could be seen where brown leaves drooped.

She sighed, but then again, what else was there to do? At the same time, the end result was satisfying and building could be entertaining... Icepaw set out for the forest, having mixed-feeling about spending her free day fixing her den.

On the way out she took a moment to glance at her littermate's den, which happened to be in the neighbouring tree, which still came as a mystery when cats thought about how tree needed space to grow and this one was barely two tail-lengths away. This one was in an abandoned hollow in the centre of the tree, which was miraculously free of bugs and didn't seem to stop the tree from growing strong. To the opposite, the tree had grown into the branches the calico she-cat had filled it with.

It was an advantage during leaf-bare, but it felt too isolated for green-leaf, to Icepaw anyway. Which was why she spent much time isolating her tree-space. Gazing out at the camp from the bottom of the tree, where the ground was free of grass and soft, she could see the whole arrangement of the camp.

The following was in one of the clearings in Skyclan forest, in one of the rare areas where we could see the sky openly from the ground without it being dappled by leaves. Cats had made their dens all around the camp, the only few cats staying together and only three assigned places.

Since kits could not climb yet, and no cat wanted then falling, the nursery was in a hollow underneath an oak tree, so old some of its roots could be seen, standing barely a mouse-length above ground, all the way to the middle of the camp, which was good because it offered a supporting structure for the earth above the den, making it spacious. At night the den was blocked out by a large piece of bark, keeping out any unwanted guests. This was a technique that most Skyclan cats used, especially the ones whose dens were on the ground, which was about five.

One of the other ground-dens was the elder's, which was level with a moss-covered maple tree. Or so only the bottom of the tree trunk was. Only-it wasn't the tree's trunk, and Icepaw purred at the thought of the hidden den. The moss actually only covered the gaps between roots, giving the impression of it all being part of the tree trunk.

The last assigned place wasn't exactly an assigned place, it was just a group of cats that had decided to stick together, probably because they were feared by half the clan. The older cats wouldn't speak of why and the younger cats either took example of them or comepletely ignored them, earning get half the clan a reputation of deserving to go to the dark forest.

Icepaw had asked, and asked, but of course, no cat ever said anything, perhaps hoping to end the tradition before the clans ended themselves. Waterpetal had only told her some cats were mouse-brains, and some cats were broken, before distantly sorting her herbs again. Her mother had no idea why...

Shaking her head, Icepaw gave one glance at the sky, which had began to light up with a blazing orange and a beep indigo purple, and headed out of camp just as the dawn patrol; Branchinglight, Lightheart, Mousepelt, Mallowfrost and Stormpaw, left.

* * *

Icepaw had met Stormpaw on the way back from the forest. The she-cat had been sent to collect moss for the elders and herself if possible, but when she had gotten back to camp, the elders had politely reminded her that Icepaw and Frostpaw had already done the job not long ago.

Upon seeing Icepaw, covered in plants from head to tail, she had offered to combine their den materials and Icepaw had agreed. Now they sat in companionable silence adding brambles to the dappled grey she-cat's den, which happened to be in the same tree as Flamepaw's, probably part of the reason they were helping each other.

Whereas Icepaw's den was ten tail-lengths off the ground, Stormpaw's was underneath the roots of the tree, giving her more den space. The positive was that it was easy to fix; The only gaps being the ones between the roots above-head, and although quite large, Icepaw knew that her friend blocked them out during leaf-bare using mud. The two had already greatly progressed, the earthy barriers had been removed, the bracken overhead shaken free of dust, the leaves ripped off to leave place to the newer fronds. The ground under-paw was soft with moss, willow leaves, and feathers.

"We're done." Stormpaw sighed, and Icepaw nearly jumped, startled out of her fantasizing and scenario inventions.

"My den now?" She mewed.

The two she-cats left the rest of the materials behind, climbing over to Icepaw's den. Right now it look ragged and patched, almost like an abandoned bird's nest, but she could imagine what it would look like once it was back to its green-leaf version.

The two she-cats took away all of the yellowing moss, dusted the bracken and willow branches free of dry leaves, and made sure the ivy branches were properly woven into place for when the buds bloomed into leaves. They then added some willow and bracken, and say back with satisfaction.

Icepaw knew that by leaving so many gals in her den, she was letting herself be exposed the cold, but to make up for this she packed moss onto a pine branch and made sure she could hide underneath it a night while trying to make it small enough to fit in the den, which was longer than it was wide.

By the time this was down the two apprentices decided to share a sparrow, seeing as the sun was setting and Icepaw would be leaving soon.

As Stormpaw left to go get a sparrow, Icepaw was left to look at the setting sun, bathing the sun in colourful hues, even taking on a greenish tinge towards where the startlingly bright yellow met the peaking indigo from the East.

When Stormpaw came back, she had brought Sunpaw with her. The two chatted and gossiped, with Frostpaw glaring disapprovingly at the other end of the clearing and Icepaw giving up on trying to maintain conversation, especially when the newly named Twigleap and Redheart came into the conversation with a vole and she had to call a cat's name at least a dozen times before they paid attention and answered.

When only the smallest rays of sunlight tinged the sky peachy pink, the indigo and blue slowly taking over as a bright full moon hovered into the sky, Icepaw wasn't paying attention to them anymore, she was somewhere else- or so metaphorically. That is, until she finally snapped back to reality when a gathering call echoed through the camp.

She blearily lifted her head, shaking the ruffles out of her fur and blinking the blurriness out of her eyes, which had gotten 'fuzzy' from staring off into the distance without blinking much for so long. The cats all around her quieted, then jumped up to follow their leader with renewed energy. When only a slight blur to her farther surrounding remained, one that she was used to, she nuzzled her mother, and promised Blackkit to tell her about the gathering while Flamelaw was tackled by Larkkit and Sparrowkit glowered hesitantly from the nursery before ignoring warrior's scowls and launching after his siblings.

She and her littermate bounded forward together, taking on a slight sprint to catch up to Duskfrost, who was padding forward next to Frostpaw, who stared ahead, Stonejump, who was chatting with Sunpaw, and Burrfur, who was talking to Dustfur while both cast furtive glances to make sure their apprentices were following.

Icepaw absently scanned the trees, dappling the forest floor silver while letting glimpses of stars, which seemed to be becoming a rare sight these days, or so at least according to the elders and Icepaw's rare moments of starry sky view. According to the older cats there was a time when stars set the sky alight like the greatest of forest fires or the flashing gleam of lightning, and the silver she-cat wished to see this sight, as well as another one, long lost through time and space as a legend that only Leopardclan, Tigerclan, and Lionclan themselves dreamed of seeing, and perhaps a handling of other cats. Yes, she dreamed of seeing the dancing lights of the sky.

She wondered what would be gossiped about during the gathering, with every clan being on edge nothing seemed quite so peaceful, apart from the borders, clans seemed to be avoiding each other like badgers. Her clan was sure to complain about Pebblestar, Riverclan was sure to say more things about Swallownose, Shadowclan- Shadowclan acted as though it were a secret society-, Windclan and Thunderclan...

She wondered if Shadowfern would be there; she still didn't get why Riverclan insisted on bringing her there only to shove her to a corner with all the other scorned, or half-scorned, cats. A familiar sinking feeling spread through her. Nothing good would come from this gathering.

Skyclan was the first to arrive, earning a few gleeful glances as the chose good places to settle down, but Icepaw could hear thrumming paw steps in the distance, then a powerful yowl ; Classical Thunderclan arrival. She glanced around wildly, not willing to be stuck with strangers, and jumped onto a tree stump, curling her fluffy tail over her paws and directing her attention to the rest of the clearing, where she had been told the other clans arrived.

When Riverclan came by, Icepaw couldn't tell who they had brought as they merged into the crowd and moments later Shadowclan's arrival could be detected by the faint rustle of undergrowth as they slunk quietly into the clearing. They were soon followed by Windclan, and Icepaw could feel the still night air disturbed by their movements, sending a wavering breeze near where she was standing.

The night had considerably cooled, and Icepaw was grateful for her thick fur, as a breeze started rustling through the four great oak's leaves, stinging her eyes and leaving other cats murmuring about the gathering ending early.

Sensing the attention slipping away from them, the leaders stepped forward, Blackstar speaking first, as anticipation, and perhaps apprehension could almost be seen floating through the midnight sky- or so it felt to Icepaw, who wanted to piece things together and still liked the gossiping news, although she was more listening to it than talking about it, since of course, the concerned cats ended up acting as though nothing were happening, although something was clearly happening, and if the leaders and medicine cats and whoever else knew about was happening kept silent- it was either nothing to worry about, which in theory didn't make that much sense, but could be possible if cats just decided they for for prejudice, or it was worse than they thought, which once again, clan life-apart from a few unfair detail- still went on normally so that theory could nearly be ruled out. That or something bad had happened but it only concerned certain cats, as would be more normal. Or there could possibly be things that had nothing to do with what could be seen as obvious... Doubt crashed into Icepaw and she stopped herself from letting out a hiss of frustration. Nothing could be proven without the rights facts!

Then she caught a glint of Swallownose's eyes, glinting with puzzled madness, and a similar yet less bad look spread across other faces of authority. She noticed the Shadowclan leader and medicine cat looking especially unhappy, while the other cats did not seem to have the same reaction...

"Let the gathering begin!" The older black leader yowled. The other leader's cast approving glances his way, probably indicating he could start, and he took another step forward, until he was looming seven tail-lengths over all other cats, or Five, in the case of Icepaw considering she was on a tree stump.

" Riverclan has been doing well, we have a been blessed with good prey and healthy cats, he cast a withering glare at certain cats while those cats glared indigniantly back at him, and Icepaw could nearly feel her namesake shimmering between them.

" We have chased a fox out of our territory and that is all we have to report." The black cat dipped his head to Goldstar, who took his place.

"We were recently attacked by a small group of badgers, but we chased them out with scars they're not ready to forget!" The golden tabby purred. " Prey has been practically running into our paws and that is all I have to report," If the leader's eyes betrayed wariness, her tone was light and confident,

She dipped her head to Nightstar, and the white and black she-cat stepped forward, "My clan has nothing to report," she mewed bluntly. Then ignored the confused glances cats cast her way and padded back to the far edge of the rock.

Shaking his head, Harestar stepped forward, " The prey is running well-or should I say not running well, since it's so easy to catch," A few cats purred at his words, " We also have four new warriors! Gladestreak, Meadowfur, Foxfang, and Badgertail! " Four cats looked up, eyes gleaming with pride as their names were called; a pale grey she-cat and a pale brown she-cat, both with green eyes, a ginger and black tom with amber eyes, and a black and white tom with blue eyes.

It was then Pebblestar's turn, and Icepaw only half listen as the leader informed the clan of news she already new, only pausing to cheer for the third time that day while distantly noticing few cats who knew Whiteclaw glance in confusion.

Then Goldstar stepped back up, "We will now announce this thirteenth moon's challenge competitions. First there will be-"

The golden tabby was interrupted by a clamour raining down below. Snapping back to attention, Icepaw shifted to face the deputies a little ways off. They were screeching in fury as a bristling Shadowfern looked at her laws in horror. Before her lay Tallbark, though at second glance very cat could see he was living.

Confused, Icepaw looked back at the scene, gaping like most other cats. There was bound to have been a rebel sometime, but... What if it hadn't been what it looked like. Who's fault had this been in the first place?

Blackstar then spoke, gazing approvingly- was it approval? At Tallbark, who shifted before sitting up. "Shadowfern. You are hereby exiled from Riverclan. You have until sunrise to be out of our territories."

Waterpetal suddenly jumped back up from where she was wrapping Tallbark's paw and ear in cobwebs.

"Shadowfern!" The gasp escaped the grey tabby's mouth as every cat's attention turned to her.

 _Oh great Starclan,_ Icepaw sighed.

 **Read and** _ **review**_ **please.**

 **Constructive criticism is welcome.**


	8. Fallen

**Hi. It is not raining. (Was that random enough?) Oh wait a minute, now that I come back to this it IS raining.**

 **So, new chapter written, thank you to reviewers.**

 **I intended on making this a more boring chapter... Well that's a bit ruined.**

 **Oh, and since this is earlier in the clans, some code rules were not added yet, and apprentices can leave camp whenever they want.**

 **Quailspirit: It is indeed a mix between moves. This is why I made the setting in older Skyclan, it gives me more freedom to invent. Also, your OC will show up when the main part of the plot is up, which could be a while. I will have to change a few things though sorry. Thank you for the OC.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own warriors (if only), nor do I own the river riddle.**

That morning, Icepaw woke to the soft gleam of sunlight streaming through her fur and the sight of blooming ivy leaves, but the events of the night before came crashing back to her before she even had time to see this sight. Tallbark had turned out to be better than he let on; Fernmist had confirmed. The gathering had immediately been canceled, but not before two other cats were threatened of exile, although the punishment was never employed; but of course, it had been two other cats who fit under the same label as Shadowfern, deemed useless. It had all gone by in a blur, cats frightened and puzzled turning the meeting into a walking-talking havoc. Icepaw herself had hung back from the group, being the last one off the island and trailing the gossiping cats from several fox-lengths behind.

Every cat was up in a matter of a few seconds, hearing the unusual murmurs coming in from outside. If the cats had seemed exhausted before, they seemed content with worried murmurs and glances towards Whiteclaw, Twistedleap, and Rosethorn's den. The attack had only fuelled their belief that that type of cat was evil. Even the cats who had protested stood quietly, eyes flickering with indecision. Yes, that night Icepaw had no idea how many times insults flew across the clearing to different cats with different opinions.

Annoyed at the cats, who were obviously generalizing, she and a few other cats had retreated to their dens. Even in the shelter of her home, there had been no way to shake off the sound of the cats' voices, and she had hissed before giving up, instead deciding to take a walk.

The forest had something eerie about it at night. She could see the moon softly dappling everything silver with its pale light, so different from the glare of the sun during the day. Yet even with the beauty of it on she had heard to many elder tales bout the nights and had trudged back into the clearing not long after. By then a furious looking group of leader and medicine cats were glaring down at the gathered cats, spitting insults raining down on them until they each returned to their dens, leaving a few cats, who had chosen to abandon the group, grinning and purring about the absurdity of it all.

She glanced down at her paws, and suddenly took realization of the numbness in her limbs. Her ruffled fur was top with a small coat of quickly-fading frost, making it sparkle like those weird twoleg pelts. She quickly shook it off before taking a step out of her den, where she found an-empty clearing?

As a kit Icepaw had always woken early, with her mother annoyed and asking her to go back to sleep, but at the moment she had taken on a tendency to stay up later and wake up early only for the reason that was that her mentor started training at dawn. She was guessing the previous night had taken its toll on the Skyclan cats, for at the moment they all seemed to be sleeping, although Icepaw could here some noise coming down from the nursery and she knew that it would not be long before the kits woke everybody else.

They were sure to still be talking about the day before, especially with the meeting that Pebblestar had promised to hold at dawn- which might have just as well been a feint because the last tips of night sky had already disappeared in the horizon, and Icepaw could feel the rapidly escalating heat.

She sighed, then directed her train of thoughts to something less dramatic. Although the theories about the present were still, there, she had now focused on one in particular. The thirteenth moon clan contest. For cats like Lightheart, Nettlefur, and Oakpelt, this contest was a warrior's first. Even for other warriors who had only been kits at the time, this would be a new experience. In other more basic words even respected warriors and mentors were seeking advice from the elders. In other-other words, she wasn't going to be trained for the games by her mentor.

There was most likely going to be a start in challenge training soon, from what she knew they spent the moon before the competition training and competing between Skyclan cats. The gathering had been interrupted too early the previous day, the events had been too sudden and unexplained; the exact reasons why Icepaw found herself also looking forward to an explanation, although she knew nothing would be explained clearly, it would be a beginning. She had the sneaking suspicion she was going to have to figure out the rest for herself.

-)()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()(

It was half-way past sun-high by the time Pebblestar actually called a meeting, but that was not what the cats were muttering about. No, what they were muttering about was the irritating fact of having a patrol of Riverclan warriors in their camp while their ebony black leader declared he had an announcement to make. Pebbelstar had evidently hissed at him to get back to his own cats, but nonetheless he stood before high-branch, unsheathing his claws.

It was useless for Pebblestar to call a meeting; all cats were already in the clearing as soon a Blackstar and his cats had barged into their camp as if they lived there, but she did anyway, probably in an attempt to show Blackstar he didn't belong.

Icepaw still sat of the branch that sheltered her den, which was now covered in half-bloomed ivy leaves, waiting to hear the announcement from her vantage point. As one might have guessed, the arrival of Riverclan only created yet another blizzard of thoughts and questions, and Icepaw was only half-listening. Whether she was half-listening or had given the meeting her full attention, the words still rang clearing in her ears.

"Let all cats old enough to climb a tree gather here beneath high-branch!" the useless phrase rang throughout the clearing.

"We all know some... peculiar events took place at the gathering last night." It was obvious from the look on the cat's faces that they themselves were anticipating more drama, although only a few had a mix of apprehension and annoyance to their eyes.

"After discussion with _Fernmist_ and _Waterpetal,"_ The leader put emphasis on the two names, with a pointed glance towards Blackstar.

"We have come to the conclusion that there are three announcements to make. Or so we had until Blackstar barged in on out camp, which I do not appreciate. Next Riverclan cat caught on out territory gets a good clawing," at those words the two clans glared at each other until Riverclan, outnumbered, looked away.

"As our first announcement, which is none of Blackstar's business, Waterpetal has confirmed that Tallbark will no longer be able to serve as deputy. He wi-

Her speech was interrupted by a pleased-looking Blackstar, "So he's one of _them_ now, isn't he?" He spat the words with such venom that Icepaw glared at him while a few cats recoiled in shock.

Pebblestar sighed, "Indeed, he is. Now, you see, Blackstar, my cats have always called my crazy, but I can confirm to you that they won't doubt my orders if I as them to attack you and your measly patrol on the spot next time you open your muzzle."

A few cats purred, and ten self-consciously seemed to feel embarrassed about their leader knowing what they spoke of behind her back.

Icepaw, meanwhile, sat coldly on her branch, evaluating the extent of the situation. Pebblestar was making a joke of this. Perhaps she was trying not to sound weak, after all her deputy had just been beaten by one of the most misjudged cats in Riverclan. Then again, she might have been trying to stop the imminent fight between her clanmates by making it seem like a once in a lifetime thing that was no big deal.

Blackstar, on the other hand, had obviously come, whether it was by purpose or not, to cause trouble. If he was here to cause trouble, there was more than one thing he could do; the things that would send the clans into fear an disagreement, as well as an even more tyrannical leadership. Of course, one of those actions happened to be the exact one he chose.

"Would you be defending them by any chance?" Before Pebblestar had a the time to answer he leaped up onto the leader's tree, ignoring the unsheathed claws and bared fangs of the Skyclan cats.

"They truly are dangerous! The code must be applied. The abnormal are bitter and jealous and will stop at nothing to destroy us all!"

Pebblestar did not answer, instead, she calmly (relatively) unsheathed her claws and spoke, " Skyclan attack." She did not yowl above her clanmate's shouts, but they all understood, and after a small glance of confusion and hesitation, they circled the Riverclan cats, each climbing one of the trees that surrounded the clearing, making sure the were in a position of advantage.

Icepaw unsheathed her claws, narrowing her eyes at the black leader before leaping down to a lower branch. Apprehension coursed through her limbs, feeling uneasy at the thought of bloodshed.

"Since you insist on messing with other cats' clans Blackstar," Pebblestar hissed, throwing one last glance his way before leaping to join her clanmates, "Our new deputy will be Duskfrost! She has served us well as a loyal warrior and I believe she is more than ready for this role." Then she had gracefully landed in the centre of the clearing.

"You may now leave, discussion closed." And she peacefully padded to her den, leaving the livid Riverclan cats to go back to their camp along with a patrol of cats, assigned by Duskfrost.

()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()

Clan activities had resumed as usual, the encounter never once mentioned as though an unmentioned rule bound all cats into silence. Even as Icepaw practiced leaping from tree to tree, she could see the uneasy glances Dustfur cast to the Riverclan border.

"You already know how to climb trees, this is similar, but the branches will be thinner, and you'll need to have good balance. I notice you often shift your weight to one side of your paws, and that could in unbalance you." The pale brown tom mewed.

From her perch about five tail-lengths above-ground, Icepaw nodded. She tried shifting her paws to stand on them more evenly, the padded over to the edge of the branch. She quickly gave up on the unfamiliar way of climbing and shifted her weight once again to the side of her paw. She heard her mentor sigh in disagreement, but ignored him and focused on keeping her balance on the swaying branch. She hesitated as it bent beneath her weight near the edge, but a sharp reminder of Dustfur about how the longer she hesitated the harder it would get hot her to rush across the branch, ignoring the pain from her snagging claws.

She finally sprang near the end of the branch, and for a moment the terrible fear of crashing into the forest floor below shook her aim, and when she landed on the other branch she felt a jolt of panic as she scrambled for a grip. She felt a wave of relief crash onto her when she felt balanced again, and looked down to were her mentor was glancing at her pensively.

She knew she had lost focus, even if for only one second, and she knew there was no place for doubt when her life rested on her focus, but she nonetheless had the feeling that she was much better at climbing a single tree than leaping tree to tree.

"You have to be careful," he mewed, then launched into another series of explanations as Icepaw pretended to listen while instead evaluating the intertwining branches of the forest trees, in the direction of camp.

The camp where things were falling apart.

(())(())(())(())(())(())(())(())(())(())(())(())(())(())

Dustfur, who kept on restlessly glancing towards the Riverclan border, had dismissed Icepaw early, claiming she could take the day off barely after sun-high. She had then seen him stalk over to Duskfrost then leave with a border patrol.

She had gotten enough time to feel sure-footed while moving through the canopy of branches, dotting the sky yet so far from reaching the stars. She supposed her technique could still get better. She could learn to be quicker and more confident. Yet although the trees whispers beckoned her to them, her instincts contradicted them, telling her an imminent fall most certainly went against survival instincts, but she ignored those, for from her perch looking down on clan life, twoleg activity, and problems, she was free.

Icepaw silently padded over to a shady spot underneath a fern bush. She knew Flamepaw and Stormpaw would only come back for patrol by sunset, but she nonetheless decided to wait. If she was lucky they should soon be coming back from hunting before training for fighting. However, she soon gave up on that idea.

To one side of the clearing stood a small huddle of cats, sharing a hare and a raven. Lark-kit, Blackkit and Sparrowkit were outside, repetitiously playing "Battle against Shadowclan," and their shrieks rang through-out camp while Lakepool supervised them, the cream and white tabby's blue eyes gleaming.

Apart from them and a handful of cats, namely Mallowfrost, Twigleap, Oakpelt, and Nettlefur, as well as the elders, whose hisses could be heard throughout camp. She found herself zoning them out, listening instead to the breeze that ruffled her fur on the warm new-leaf day, and staring out into the distance. After all, thinking did not require any movement from her.

She still wondered why certain cats were considered oh so dangerous. All that the other cats would reply is that they would be the ones to end the clan unless we stopped them. Those who disagreed or argued usually held a haunted look in their eyes. In theory, every cat knew that certain reasons were revealed on one's journey to the Moonstone. Cats never actually spoke of it, but certain signs had led to this theory. First off, cats returning from Mothermouth looked as if they had just been scared out of their fur by the Dark-forest cats. Second off... Younger cats were not as ignorant as the full-grown ones thought. They wanted to know why. So they gathered stories from the elders and listened to the older cats. The elders told them tales of war, and the senior warriors told them they would see, and the youngest warriors told them that they shouldn't look forward to their journey to the Moonstone.

In the end, they had come up with this theory to fill in the missing information. The only way they ever found out was as they grew up and went to the moonstone. For yes, the rules stated not to talk of dreams, and apparently the ones who knew didn't judge useful to let apprentices know.

It was a wonder though, why newly named warriors didn't go back to their fellow apprentices to give them them knowledge they sought. That fact left them even more confused, and to be honest slightly creeped out. To be honest if filled Icepaw with a mix of foreboding and curiosity. She wondered what was up- and if anything was up -yet she did not want to know. In the end all it caused was a mix of powerless exasperation. Sometimes she wished she could read cats' minds.

 _Patience_ , or so that was the word that rang through her head at that moment. She could've sworn she heard the whisper ring throughout the breeze. She shook her head, having spent so much time daydreaming must've made her imagine things. She nonetheless whipped around, where the fading scent of wild lilies could be detected. Then she froze mid-step; there were no lilies in Skyclan territory.

She wondered if she was just imagining things again, or if some cat had come here. It would make sense after all, a cat hiding their scent with the one of a lily, had a lily not been poisonous to cats. That or some Skyclan cat had brought the scent here. Sunpaw, who padded into the clearing along with White-ember, Pineclaw, Mousepelt, and Pebblestar, confirmed her suspicions.

"Do you smell lily flowers by any chance?" She asked.

"Yeah, we ran into a dog." Before Icepaw had a chance to do anything _other_ than scan through the possibilities that could lead to and it what ways it could most likely have been connected to lilies, he interrupted her, "It was the twolegplace border and the closet escape we had was a twoleg garden. No cat was harmed."

"Good." She replied, still irritated at her irrational fear, ignoring the coppery haze that wreathed around her for a moment.

Before she had a chance to say anything, Waterpetal was snapping at Sunpaw to get back to the patrol so she could treat the few scratches he had gotten.

As a matter of fact, ever since the gathering night Waterpetal had lost her usual compassion. After her out-burst at the gathering she had silently glared at any cats who cast her so much as a glance. Something about that night had affected here more than other cats. Something about Fernshadow most definitely. An undistinct image kept tugging at her mind, yet even as she focused on it she found herself only seeing a jumble of sights and sounds. The memory playing out in her head was a tangle of muddy brown, dark green, shouts raining though the air, a looming figure, darkness.

No, she couldn't make sense of it, yet a feeling of familiarity had settled onto her, as if she had seen this before, more recently. But she knew she hadn't. She hadn't lived it no, she had dreamt it. The dream too was patchy and indistinct, yet it had been clearer, she knew.

What she sought were answers. No cat would give them to her. The smallest clues she had still needed missing fragments of information. She cast a hesitant glance to where Waterpetal was standing with a pile of herbs and cobwebs next to her, the tabby's face still twisted into a scowl. That was obviously not going to help. At the best Icepaw would get snapped at. The hardest secrets to uncover seemed to be the one that one was determined to keep lost within time and space.

She found herself instead searching for some traces that were impossible to erase. That was how she ended up at the river's bank. The sun was hidden, but only behind a thin layer of clouds, although it was possible that they would grow into storm clouds as the was no breeze to keep them from lingering over the clans.

The river-water, taking on a brownish tint from the rocks and sand lining the river-bed, was streaked through with the silvery reflection of the clouds, but even with all this peaceful atmosphere, Icepaw could not see what the river itself hid.

She did not know why she had the conviction that there was something special about the flood-night, and she had even less of an idea what could possibly be revealed to her by what had a mouth yet was bound to muteness.

About half-way between the Riverclan border and the Thunderclan border, Icepaw halted before a different landscape. Before was was an uprooted tree, and oak to be more specific. The ground next to it was upturned and many of its branches were strewn over the ground, which was caked in dry and cracked mud. The trees branches trailed into the river, tracing intricate designs into the water, and stretched all the way into Riverclan territory.

There was something unceasing about the scene itself, yet a it held a ring of familiarity, and it was the only trace of the storm Icepaw had found. She hesitantly placed a paw on the tree's moss-covered trunk, testing its solidity. With typical Skyclan expertise, she unsheathed her claws and swiftly made her way across the river, only stoping once she was one third of the way there.

It occurred to her that she should be worried about either a patrol of Skyclan or Riverclan warriors would spot her, but she knew that by now Duskfrost's patrol would be back at camp and that the patrol had purposely gone out at the same time as the usual Riverclan patrol. Oh, and there was the fact that the area wasn't exactly the safest and warriors most likely avoided it, instead swimming and hunting farther upstream near the twoleg bridge and outside their camp.

For a moment she just gazed at the rippling water, path carved by sweeping oak branches. That moment was interrupted when she heard a twig snap from the opposite side of the river, in Riverclan territory. She snapped back to focus and glared down to the opposing bank, but there were no blurry figures outlined against the bleak grey sky.

She silently padded another few tail-lengths, curious whether there was or was not a cat there. She did not need to go past half of the tree for suddenly two silhouettes emerged from the shadows beyond. She jumped and for a moment she was scrabbling to get her grip on the tree, then she was falling. She gasped as frozen water surrounded her, then used instincts she didn't know she possessed the break through the surface of the water and scramble back onto shore. The heartbeat that it took for her to stand up and breath in oxygen thankfully was the heartbeat it took for her to be glaring at two opposing cats.

One was a tortoiseshell she-cat with heather-coloured eyes, and another, retreated farther into the shadows, was ebony black with golden eyes.

"Oh, she's still alive." Mewed the tortoiseshell, looking rather bored.

 **That took a while to write.**

 **QOTD: What do you think happened during the storm-flood?**

 **QOTD2: Who do you think are the two cats?**


	9. Confusion

**I am SO sorry it took so long to update, but now I have time to write more.**

 **I-really-hope-not: I answered in a PM. Thank you for reviewing and guessing. I will answer that guess in about... I don't really know how many chapters.**

Icepaw glared at the two cats, knowing very well that she didn't look quite menacing while trying to free her lungs of the lack of oxygen. Surprisingly, her fur seemed to be shedding off half of the water, and her eyes did not feel any of the harsh sting other cats had described when filled with water.

The black she-cat stayed where she was, golden eyes shielded from the sun and taking on a more amber tint. Meanwhile, the tortoiseshell glared back at her.

"Why are you here?" She snapped, and Icepaw guessed the tortoiseshell was referencing the fact that she may have looked like she was attempting to cross into Riverclan territory.

It was while searching through possibilities that a particular detail hit her. These cats were not Riverclan, or so it seemed from the scent. She decided to go with that hyposthesis, as if she echoed the she-cat's question her own question might be answered by the enemy itself.

"I could ask the same of you." She gazed back at them coldly, and the she-cat behind the one that had spoken looked taken aback. Meanwhile, the other one's mask quickly melted into place as she feigned indignance. The a second later she sighed, and instead seemed to settle for looking threatening.

Icepaw could see that she was shuffling through different techniques, but it was clear that all three cats had come to the same conclusion: Icepaw was outnumbered. All the same, even with the fear of an attack or being discovered by even more cats, Icepaw was curious. What were Shadowclan cats doing in Riverclan territory of all places. Many times in history had the two clans been allies, but lately it seemed that an even harsher, unspoken, boundary had been formed between the two groups.

It wasn't really a mystery. Riverclan was the clan that stick closest to the warrior code, whereas Shadowclan; Well, no cat had any idea about Shadowclan because although it acted normal at gatherings, it was never heard of any other time and no one cared much anyway. The result of this was simply a lack of information concerning Shadowclan, and, in this situation, doubts about what the cats standing before the Skyclan apprentice were doing and going to do.

For a moment Icepaw stood frozen in indecision, until a mew rang out North of the river. In the direction of the gorge.

Mintfang? Darksun?"

The voice didn't sound familiar, but it was clear that it was directed towards the two Shadowclan cats. Icepaw immediately tossed aside the possibility of it having been a Riverclan cat who knew them, and swallowed back her curiosity as she jumped to her paws.

The Shadowclan cats weren't where they belonged. Unless they really were there for a visit to Riverclan for whatever reason, they probably didn't intend on being spotted. She was outnumbered and had no idea of their intentions. The new cat, who she now identified as a grey tom as he crested the nearby hill, only had time to cast a questioning yet unsurprised glance to the scene before Icepaw sprang to her paws and leaped across the fallen tree, running faster than she ever had before, ignoring the screeching of her lungs that burned up to her ears.

The tree's trunk shifted beneath her paws, and bits of bark flew into the river. Reaching Skyclan territory's river bank, she glanced back for one moment, only to nearly halt when she saw that the Shadowclan cats were simply sitting in Riverclan territory. The tortoiseshell's eyes were narrowed, as were the grey tom's, but the third cat's gaze was still hidden beneath the shadows.

She nearly growled. Just great. Now Shadowclan was truly acting out of norm too. Of course, this wasn't news to anyone. By the reputation, yes they were distant from the other clans, but they were also the clan most eager to fight and defend borders. It wasn't just Icepaw listening to too many tales, she literally knew how these cats were for a fact. Just when she was a kit a fight had broken between Skyclan and Shadowclan, who weren't even rivals nor close neighbours. Apparently Riverclan had sister whith Shadowclan. She was never told anything else, apart from the fact that it had only lasted moments before falling apart. Neither clan had lost, neither clan had won. Strange, yet typical in those times of peace.

Soon after that Shadowclan had literally become the most despised clan in the forest as they began to pick an increasing big amount of fights until the precarious peace between clans was about to fall. Sure, it wasn't really peace, but these days cats were too busy worrying about war from within to worry about war from outside.

 _That_ wasn't what had surprised the cats. On the other hand the fact that Shadowclan had almost completely vanished off the face of the world was still a mystery. They were still in their territory and were seen at gatherings, but that was it.

Icepaw found herself, turning around in circles. Repeating each reason why the clans weren't normal over and over, adding new details, yet knowing the frustrating truth that was that all these obvious statements were not reasons nor explanations, or at least not the ones she sought.

She glanced back, stopping only for a split-second, as saw that the cats were still watching her. She could only catch fragments of their conversation before the wind tore them away, but "Riverclan cat" and "Skyclan?" Seemed to be reoccurring words. She quickly climbed a neighbouring tree, knowing that she had the advantage if anything happened, and silently watched what they were doing, ignoring the instincts that told her to run.

Just as Icepaw was considering trying to eavesdrop on what they were saying, (which would require her to approach them, which could go wrong in so many ways), in case they were a threat, two of the cats left. Only the black cat, who still sat within the shadows, remained. Icepaw watched, hidden within the trees, as the she-cat flicked her tail towards an oak tree, about five badger-lengths away from Icepaw, dropped into a hunting crouch, got up and left.

Icepaw blinked, hearing a rustling noise inside the same tree that the Shadowclan cat had pointed out, before scenting a squirrel.

/

She returned to camp with the squirrel in her jaw, which she had caught more by luck than by skill, being distracted and wary of invading cats. She had stayed within the tree branches on her way back to camp, labelling them as safe haven even though she knew that even that was a lie.

She entered the camps moments before Twigleap, who immediately went to Duskfrost. The encounter with Shadowclan cats was still on her mind, and she knew she should probably report them to someone. Yet she still found herself hesitant and reluctant when it came to telling any cat.

She was hovering near tall-branch, right beside the leader den, stuck in indecision, when she was surprised by the deputy, who took no notice of her as she rushed to the centre of the clearing in a blur of grey and white and called out, "Lightheart, Mallowfrost, Mousepelt,Twigleap, and Stonejump, you will come with me to the Thunderclan border, where Shadowclan cats have been spotted. They are said to have been aggressive but not having made any move to attack nor cross the border. Keep in mind that this is _not_ a battle patrol and you are _not_ to cause any fights with _any_ clan,"

Icepaw shivered at the mention of her father's name. Although the patrol was not very big and could easily beat the amount of cats that were down by the river, Icepaw had certain doubts when it came to Shadowclan cats and she knew that Mousepelt was in danger. She had also noticed the omitted apprentices in the dark grey tabby's speech and knew that the deputy was having similar doubts.

Before the warriors could depart, Icepaw wove her way through the crowd to Flamepaw, who already stood two mouse-lengths taller than her.

"There were also Shadowclan cats by the river," She hissed silently to Flamepaw, who looked startled for a moment before calling out to the crowd, "They've been to Riverclan too!"

The deputy whipped around, "Did they seem threatening," She asked calmly.

"No!" Icepaw yowled over the renewed chatter of her clanmates, recalling the strange black she-cat and once again wondering about whether the find of her squirrel was coincidental or not, especially after the black cat had gestured exactly where she had found it...

"Well then go to Pebblestar, I don't have time for this, she growled, _both_ of you, Flamepaw and Icepaw, she added as she saw the looks the two siblings had given her." Then she stalked off, leaving the few remaining warriors, ones that weren't on the one hunting patrol that was still out, to mutter amongst themselves in confusion and try to find plausible explanations. Of course, the number of cats having been narrowed down to three warriors, two elders, one queen, and three apprentices, most of the cats were clustered together in one group. She could see the kits bounding out of the nursery, where they'd been watching with curious eyes, with renewed energy as their screeches about Shadowclan and attacks filled the air, that is, until Oakpelt and Sunpaw padded over to them. While Oakpelt taught Sparrowkit the hunting crouch, despite the disapproving glares of one or two cats when they saw the no-tailed kit, Sunpaw played moss-ball with Larkkit and Blackkit.

Meanwhile, Icepaw glared at her calico littermate as they padded to the entrance of the amber-eyed leader, whose previously mentioned eyes were glaring right back at them.

"Shadowclan?" Icepaw would interpreted her words as more of a statement than a question, and before either apprentice had time to reply she snapped, " Fine, come in and report," the Icepaw heard her mutter under her breath, "Shoudve been No.." She was pretty sure that there was a part of those words that she had misinterpreted, and ignored the curiosity growing within her to instead face the leader.

"How many cats," The dark grey she-cat mewed.

Icepaw stared at her sister, knowing she shouldn't have been out of camp alone, and that it may look suspect if only one one the sibling knew what she was talking about. So instead of responding, Icepaw sheathed and unsheathed her claws three times, hoping Flamepaw would notice.

"Three.?" Flamepaw mewed, although there was a hint of doubt in her voice, and Icepaw's heart nearly skipped a beat as the leader narrowed her eyes, tails slowly starting to lash, "And you know this for sure," Pebblestar questioned, and she saw Flamepaw's fur bristle as she quickly added, "Yes, but there may have been more hidden in higher ground."

The leader glanced at both siblings in turn, the added, although Icepaw could see that this was clearly not her main concern at the moment in the distant look in her pale amber gaze and her restlessly flicking tail, which seemed to be a similar mood to Icepaw's, who was digging her claws into the earth below paw, "Did they _look_ like a threat?"

This time Icepaw gave a small shake of her head while Flamepaw answered, "Not really,". It was clear that the leader had caught Icepaw's nod, but of the tabby knew for certain that Icepaw had been out alone she showed no sign of it. Then there was also the possibility that Icepaw was worrying for nothing and the distract authority had either not noticed her silent communication to her littermate or had taken it for silent agreement. In any case Icepaw's ears burned in... Shame? Maybe. Probably more annoyance. She nonetheless decided to settle for not believing herself in trouble and not trusting that she had gotten away with anything. Then again the rule about not leaving camp itself was not well-established as certain exceptions were allowed...

Icepaw blinked, realizing she had been staring at a random bramble, although not for more than a moment, she noted, and added more information Flamepaw's brief false-experience, "One of them looked hostile, the other stayed back, more in the shadows, and the third barely had time to join the two others before I-We left," Icepaw stuttered.

"What did they look like?" Icepaw glanced at Flamepaw, refraining a purr when she saw how bored her littermate looked, even as she knew the calico she-cat was pleased to have been summoned by the leader herself, no matter how crazy or not-crazy.

/

There hadn't been any trace of Shadowclan at the borders, leaving to cats to speculate as to why they'd stray that far away from their territory, and also all the other facts and theories and unanswered questions that roamed around the world. The ones that frusterayed Icepaw, although even from what she'd seen she wasn't sure what every cat felt, nor what every cat knew.

She and Flamepaw had simply been told to stay closer to their mentors in the future, and Icepaw was glad that no cat had asked Flamepaw's mentor about why Flamepaw had gotten a free day, especially considering she'd been hunting the whole time.

Of course afterwards Flamepaw had demanded an explanation, and Icepaw had explained the important details, omitting the whole explanation to her fall into the river as well as the black she-cat.

Of course Stormpaw, having been on the patrol that saw the other Shadowclan cats, insisted on bragging about her story the rest of the evening, often contradicting other cats when they tried to interject, that being mainly Icepaw as the others were too busy chatting and interrupting. This wasn't unusual, and as usual, Icepaw retreated a tail-length back, eating the remains of her mouse, and listened to them. Nonetheless they were clanmates.

That night her dreams her filled with the rushing current of murky waters and the looming shape of a crashing object, yet the object never did crash, instead she woke up to the rising light of dawn and blinked the blurry ember- coloured haze away from her gaze, noting that she still has a few moments before training began.

 **Please review,**

 **QOTD: What do you think the ember-coloured light Icepaw keeps seeing is?**

 **Have a nice day,**

 **-Key**


	10. Red Moon

**Hello, I decided to make this chapter from a point of view other than Icepaw's… Thank you to reviewers. I feel sorry for my characters…**

 **I'm sorry if one or two of my cats break the genetics of cat appearances.**

She hissed for what felt like the millionth time in the past few days. Of course, she was glad of the turn of events, she knew she had just been a pawn in their carefully plotted plan, but in a way the plan itself had set her free and back to her former glory. The shadow of the past years still silently trailed her, she knew, which was perhaps the reason why she refused to claim her old name, but it kindled the ember of rage within her until a clear plot had practically set itself upon her path.

She strode confidently through the city, only stopping to hunt once. She didn't pay much attention to her surroundings, barely noticing the shift between flowering gardens, homely two-leg dens, and bleak, towering grey buildings. She ignored her scraped paws, instead hardly registering each passing monster-or car, before leaping across the glittering grey paths like she would a shallow stream.

When all the warm colours of the outer twoleg-place had shifted into cold grey and mirroring glass, she became aware of the uneasy feeling of many stares scorching her fur, but apart for the occasion gleam of claws or flash of eyes, nothing seemed intent on attacking her. She felt a surge of hatred at the reminder that nobody saw her as a threat, and thus, she did not put much consideration into the fact that perhaps she _did_ look threatening. After all, she knew that she was much taller than many of the cats she had seen, she could still easily count each of the cats that had loomed over her. Not only that, but her bristling fur likely made her look even stronger, that combined with the healing scars of her recent scuffles might as well had been enough to hide her useless and twisted paw, which in no way hindered her any longer, but as formerly mentioned, the resentment consuming her hid these facts from her.

She knew that it was not she who was wrong, it was those fox-hearts from where she came from that had brought her vengeance down upon themselves. She had, of course, once loved their ways enough to discard her old way of life as rogue, but then…. She hissed again. The proud apprentice of the leader had been much too easily been left and treated like mouse-bile over a simple rule. Of course, yet again she did not know the whole story as to how this had happened, but she also knew that no explanation could possibly excuse the mistreatment of many cats, and she let that knowledge satisfy her quest for explanation. She was in the right, and she let that information fuel her anger.

For a quarter-moon, she traveled on this way, with blood roaring in her ears and the constant replaying and improvement of her calculations. She did not care if Starclan's precious clans were destroyed; Starclan obviously had as much judgement as a hungry fox these days and she was sure that the Dark Forest cats would celebrate with glee, but she did not care about them either. Her own plans would surely have repercussions but all she cared about was revenge.

When she finally saw a three story building looming ahead of her, covered in moss and ivy, with broken windows and crumbling walls, she suddenly felt the dizzying rage that had taken over her for so long melt away into the eerie peacefulness of the surrounding area, and she carefully wrapped her tail around her paws. She saw a flash of icy blue-grey eyes, then waited a moment as a single yowl echoed through her ears and a huge brown tabby tom, almost twice her height, slowly padded over to where she was sitting. His eyes blazed, and she knew that she could not afford one wrong move, especially when she knew that there were enough cats in that house to form three clans.

The tabby, who she knew was leader, was followed by a grey she-cat, whose fur looked like it was fading into a web of white fur, a golden tom with blue eyes, a black tom with yellow eyes, and a small calico she-cat with orange eyes. Behind them cats were gathering around the crumbling ivy-covered stone walls, and she could see the blink or eyes where there should have been glass but instead were only shards.

She did not speak, instead politely nodding her head towards the chief; whose name she knew was Fury. He flicked his tail in return, while the others watched in stony silence; only the ones out of earshot were whispering amongst themselves, but they mostly shared a few things in common, curiosity and wariness.

"Why are you here," Fury snapped impatiently.

"Would I be mistaken to say you hold a grudge against the forest cats?" she answered his question with a question. At these words his eyes narrowed, and she knew she had to thread even more carefully.

"You mean cats like you, Shadow," he growled.

"My name is no longer Shadow," she mewed, "And I am no longer one of _them_ ," she spat the last word disdainfully.

"And why should we help you when you know fair well that it would jeopardize our rule over this territory?" The brown tom retorted, and she knew he was testing her ability to choose the right words.

"Because I know when you were intending to go against them once your power was more stable, and I can help you, I know more about them than you'd think." She said those words with bitter honesty; she had gotten plenty of time to gather information.

Fury bristled at the mention of his unsteady hold over the group of cats, and she quickly added, "They are also unstable. They have made some foolish mistakes, and two of their leaders died recently."

She knew Fury had already made his decision, but he most likely wanted to make sure she knew that this was all in _his_ power.

"And why is that?" he asked, and she saw a flicker of doubt in his gaze.

"They were worthless, not worth being worshiped by other cats," she mewed simply, and she knew that Fury had understood what she implied about her crimes.

The leader's eyes gleamed for a moment before he ordered, "Fang, Crow, Copper, escort her to my den."

So Web was the second in command now, she noted.

"Unless you want me to refer to you as Shadow, you better find yourself another name, clan cat." He spat, before stalking off to what she could only assume was his den.

She glanced at her calico fur, noting the strange red shade her fur was taking under the setting sun's light.

 _They'll call me Scarlet._

* * *

Lunaly was trying to evade the house-full of cats. She could not leave completely, but she could at least go outside, where the last chills of winter were retreating and blossoms had bloomed into new greenery. She was not exactly expecting to see a cat within Fury's territory, but it came as no surprise when she turned to see a cat standing on the road before the house. She blinked, then shook her head. For a moment the newcomer's fur had looked blood-red, like an ominous omen, but upon closer look it was obvious that it was just a very dark calico. It didn't help that Lunaly had never had the best eyesight and everything more than four tail-lengths ahead of her was slightly blurred.

For a moment she hesitated, wildly glancing around to see if there was any cat in proximity. When she saw nothing, she chose to retreat behind the broken stone wall the barricaded most of the house's front yard. For a moment she sat there, heart pounding, immediately regretting her decision; it was crucial that no cat here saw her as a traitor, but she honestly didn't care much what happened to most of the rogue group.

She berated herself for the billionth time since she had denied her chance to escape. Of course she could have left with Saphyr, but she had been too much of a coward. She was not sure she was even brave enough at the moment, and she felt a pang at the thought of the littermate she hadn't seen in moons; she wasn't even sure if the blue-grey she-cat was alive. She wasn't sure she could ever escape now; Fury had increased his vigilance ever since Saphyr had escaped, not that just Saphyr had raised his guard, but more that Lunaly's sister had used the commotion of ten fleeing cats to make her own escape.

Looking back, it was a miracle that any of them had made it out alive, especially considering that if there was one thing that Fury hated, it was definitely betrayal. Which was exactly why Lunaly was probably still not brave enough to leave even now, and also why she had concealed her white fur as best a she could behind a curtain of ivy when she had not immediately yowled alarm as soon as she spotted the intruder. Fury had been clear about that; his judgement was not one of a normal cat when it came to betrayal and even the he smallest offense could be the cause of any cat's death within seconds. Not only that but seemed to have eyes everywhere, a fact that had caused many conspiracy theories. Even then there was no way she wanted to be the one finding the passerby; it would only draw attention to herself and _that_ was even more dangerous.

Her heartbeat was finally becoming regular once more when an eerie howl rang across the clear sky, feeling like it was icily hanging in the air for a moment before fading away as thundering paw-steps echoed onto the pavement as nearly the whole group gathered. It was probably unnecessary, of course, but the cats like passersby to know that they were outnumbered, whether or not they had brought along a group of their own.

She flinched, knowing that there was a possibility that her fate had been sealed from the moment her icy gaze met the calico's furious one. If the newcomer somehow reported having seen her… She just had to hope that the small chance of it never came to reality. Seeing that cats were approaching her improvised hideout, she quickly dashed into open ground and curled her tail around her paws, struggling to keep her fur lying flat before anyone saw her looking suspicious. It was likely that she had been safe behind the glossy ivy leaves anyway, but her white pelt wasn't exactly easy to conceal, her grey tabby tail-tip being the only part of her fur that blended into the stony colours of her residence.

She couldn't help but roll her eyes as she saw Fury's interaction with the she-cat. He had brought Crow, Fang, Copper, and Web with him, and he seemed to be enjoying reminding her that _he_ was the one who held control over his rogue group. The cat, however, looked unfazed, her stance peaceful when moments before her rage had looked so strong that Lunaly had almost felt it herself. She could only feel a flicker of relief that Fury was not as tyrannical as other leaders had been, only for it to be overcome by a sense of foreboding; there were endless possibilities as to how he could be overthrown or how he could become a worse cat than he already was. As a matter of fact, she though bitterly, she was quite sure that her brother was planning on how to gain his trust at the moment, and she knew that if Fang had the chance to seize power he wouldn't hesitate. She nearly cursed out loud at the thought of her brother, the one who she did not truly consider a littermate, only to take one look at the gathered cats and quickly shut her mouth. Speaking badly of one of the most respected cat in the hierarchy was not recommended here.

Seeing that even more cats were approaching, she sprang onto the stone wall next to her. It wasn't like the others, barely two badger-lengths it looked as though it was simply made of leftover bricks that had never gotten the chance to be used. A few rock fragments fell to the ground, three fox-tails below, and she silently thanked the ivy for the hold it kept onto the rest of the bricks. Even with good hearing, she struggled to pick up more than tiny snippets of the conversation between fury and the rogue, which was probably one of the reasons why no other cat had taken her current perch as their own before she got there. Most of the words that she heard revolved around 'clan cats', 'Shadow', and 'help'.

Curiosity was gnawing at her when she saw Fury nod in the distance, then the calico staring thoughtfully at her pelt, Crow and Copper waiting patiently while Fang lashed his tail; most likely in annoyance. Even without being able to listen to their conversation she wished she could have seen any flicker of emotion in their eyes, but from this distance she wasn't even able to distinguish the colour of them. Had she been anywhere else she might have considered eavesdropping, but at the moment she preferred to use her patience instead of risking her life. Annoyance soon replaced her curiosity; after all if Fury wanted to lie to his cats he was fully capable of it, and there was a large chance she would never truly know what the calico had to tell.

Even if the very small possibility of her being deemed guilty never did come true; which was what Lunaly was trying to let herself believe, as rationally there were so many different conclusions this day could have that it was nearly impossible to immediately predict anything. She forced herself to ignore her reoccurring fear, and instead padded over to where cats were already gathering, before the entrance to the basement, which was the floor that Fury had claimed for himself. She perched herself somewhat at the top of a lightning-struck bush that she thought may once have been a holly plant.

She hoped the meeting was meaningless, but to was hard to believe when the air seemed to be charged with crackling tension.

Moments later Fury slowly padded onto the lawn, springing onto a stack of hay to address the gathered cats, "May all cats old enough to be loyal gather here or suffer the consequence." He yowled, and had Lunaly been a newcomer she would have been surprised by how loudly he could yowl.

The rest of the meeting went by as he spoke to the cats with carefully chosen words, ones that were meant to manipulate them into following him, but Lunaly simply held back a flurry of insults. She might have wanted to ignored him, but sometimes listening could allow her to gather useful information, especially from her enemies. Even then, she wasn't exactly paying complete notice to all his lies. However she immediately snapped back to full attention when she heard the last phrase of his speech, "Soon, my cats, we will declare war on the clans!"

It took a moment longer than Lunaly would have liked to regain her composure.

* * *

 **These are the appearances of the cats that were mentioned in this chapter:**

 **Scarlet: Calico she-cat with dark green eyes.**

 **Fury: Huge brown tabby tom with amber eyes (Maine Coon)**

 **Lunaly: White she-cat with grey tabby tail-tip and blue-grey eyes.**

 **Saphyr: Blue-grey she-cat with grey tabby tail-tip and blue-grey eyes (Nearly identical to Lunaly).**

 **Fang: Golden tabby tom with blue eyes.**

 **Web: Grey she-cat with a web-like white pattern on her fur that expands with time (Happens to some cats), and blue eyes.**

 **Crow: Black tom with yellow eyes.**

 **Copper: Calico she-cat with orangish copper coloured eyes.**

 **Cayenne: Redish-brown she-cat with green eyes.**

 **Wire: Dark grey she cat with yellow eyes.**

 **Rat: Cream-coloured tom with darker muzzle, ear-tips, tail-tip, and paws and blue eyes (Siamese cat)**

 **Strike: Ginger tom with amber eyes.**

 **Hope you all have a nice day.**

 **QOTD: Which P.O.V so far do you prefer?**

 **Please review,**

 **-Key**


	11. Silence

**Hi, I am so annoyed I had planned the fifteen next chapters and I lost the plan. Oh, on a less annoying (to me anyway) note, thanks to all of you readers and reviewer:). I WOULD appreciate more reviews though.**

 **I-really-hope-not: Thanks, Icepaw's point of view will be more interesting when I get to the main plot point. In about... a moon or so in the story.**

 **Disclaimer: The friendly clan competition is actually from one of the original warrior books, although I changed certain things, sort of as if it had been a distant tradition that the clans lost in time and gained back again in a time when peace was needed.**

 **Okay, I am SO sorry I haven't updated in a while. To redeem myself I wrote a chapter that is actually many chapters away (I just has to write her Moonpool dream, I couldn't wait)... By the way Icepaw is a mix between a Russian blue and more long-furred house cat.**

 _Icepaw emerged into a clearing. On one side of her stood_ row _after row of immaculate pine trees, and ahead of her was a clear pond, sparkling almost unnaturally in the clouded sun's filtered light._

 _The shimmering reflection of the pool called to her, and without realizing she had even taken a step, she was suddenly staring at her reflection in the pool. She carefully placed a paw onto it, as gently she might had picked a delicate flower._

 _From her paw spread a small ripple, which quickly took the shape of a small snowflake, but before she could do anything the water swallowed her like a weightless piece of prey and the current tossed her along the banks of an unknown river._

 _A cloud of hazy darkness was suddenly looming overhead, and she desperately tried to escape the tide of water, but just as quickly as it had appeared, the shadows fragmented as the whole dream fragmented into darkness like a new layer of_

 _"Ice_ paw!

The first thing that she noticed was had not risen yet. The second was that each of the apprentice's mentors were outside. Pineclaw, looking bored out of his fur, Burrfur, yawning, Dustpelt and Lightheart, looking annoyed, and Duskfrost, who was already exiting camp.

The other apprentices were exchanging confused glances, but before any of them could ask any questions, Duskfrost grinned teasingly from the branches of a tree that bordered the camp, "Welcome to your first official training session for the thirteenth moon competition!"

"And it couldn't wait for dawn?" Sunpaw complained.

"Nope. Because you are hereby Shadowclan cats for the day!" The apprentices exchanged bewildered glances at Lightheart's words.

Flamepaw let out a strangled ,"what!?"

Although it did make sense, Starclan this was almost weirder than Shadowclan's behaviour. After having sent battle patrols all over their boundaries; without ever actually battling, they had retreated back into the shadows of their territory and a patrol sent to meet with Nightstar had reported that although they were in their territory they had changed their camp's location.

"Pebblestar will eventually be explaining all this, but for now what you need to know is that today we will be practicing stalking, ambushes, tracking, and hiding," Burrfur mewed.

She had to hope that this didn't mean they were practicing Windclanish moves. Running was the best way to be discovered and labeled useless.

She turned to exchange a glance with Flamepaw, and when she turned back the mentors were already leaping into the trees.

Frostpaw was nowhere to be seen, and Sunpaw and Stormpaw were keeping pace with his mentor, leaving Icepaw and Flamepaw to rush to catch up.

Now starting her fourth moon of training, the sisters were perfectly capable of leaping from tree to tree, but being smaller than average certain gaps between branches were harder to jump over. That didn't stop them from arriving at the training clearing on time.

Redclaw, Twigleap, and White-Ember were already there, and she jumped when she saw them, but considering that they were newly named warriors and had therefore never participated in the competition, it wasn't a mystery as to why they were there.

She yawned, glancing aimlessly at the sky out of habit, although she already knew that the sky was filled with clouds and she wouldn't be able to see much of the moon's position.

She was shaken out of her sleepy state when she stepped in a cold puddle of water, gasping at the shock of the cold as Stormpaw, Sunpaw, and Flamepaw snickered. Still tired, she sighed, hoping that this lack of sleep wouldn't lead to her making any more distracted mistakes.

She glanced back to where Frostpaw had just padded into the clearing. Burrfur cast an irritated glance towards his apprentice, but said nothing.

Moments later Duskfrost bounded onto an overhanging branch from a holly bush. "I know it's late- err early, but this training session is basically to prepare us for any challenges that have to do with Shadowclan. You will be separated into small groups and will have to roleplay an ambush battle on each other. Winning team moves on, losing team can keep practicing with the other losing teams. The winners get the day off, and the ones with the most victories get first pick on the fresh-kill pile. Your mentors will assign your partners and give you a setting for you battle as well as give you any other information," at those words, she waved her tail and leaped down to where Sunpaw was waiting with Stormpaw.

At that point Icepaw's competitive spirit was rising and she was already forming plans about how to defeat her 'enemy'. Of course she couldn't form a whole plan without knowing her adversaries allies and location, but she was definitely fully awake now.

"Icepaw," she turned around, nearly gripping on her own paws, to see Dustfur coming her way.

"Your partner will be Sunpaw. You will be against Redheart, and Stormpaw, and you will be fighting at the pond near the marshes, but make sure to stay away from the Thunderclan border. "

Before Icepaw could ask anything he interrupted, "I will explain what the goal is once we get there. Duskfrost and Sunpaw left a few moments ago."

They walked to the pond in silence, and even though it was the beginning of green-leaf, there was a certain chill to the air brought on by the night, and the ground was sprinkled with fresh dew.

They were the before-last to arrive, Stormpaw and her mentor arriving last. This time Duskfrost left the speech to Pineclaw, and she thought she heard Redheart muttering something about being glad Dustfur, his and Whiteclaw's father, wasn't giving one of his strict and unnecessarily long speeches; she had to admit to herself that this was at _least_ partly true.

"As you know, whatever tactic you use to win must have something to do with ambushing or stalking. Icepaw and Sunpaw's 'camp' will be in the patch of stinging nettle, and Stormpaw and Redheart's will be in the thorn bush at the other end of the 'marsh' area. Your goal is to get into the other team's camp from behind," Pineclaw mewed, "If this takes too long you are _all_ disqualified."

"You have until the signal to make a plan. Good luck and-" Before Dustfur could continue Redheart yowled, "Thank you Dustfur!" And ran to the thorn bush.

They didn't have much time to discuss, but Icepaw and Sunpaw came up with a clear plan, although there were many flaws to it, including the fact that they had not yet finished planning Icepaw's role, but they had the potential to win and she wasn't about to let anyone beat her.

When Duskfrost's yowl rang out overhead, Icepaw stood frozen for moment. She then shook herself, berating herself for working so horribly under pressure, and padded calmly next to the side of the nettle patch, making sure to rustle the stems as much as possible. Sunpaw, meanwhile, hid, lying in wait to pounce on any cat that approached.

Suddenly leaving the nettle patch with one last flick of her tail, she wadded cautiously into the murky waters of the marsh, holding back a shiver of cold and breaking into a run, avoiding splashing through the water and instead jumping on patches of grass, she saw Redheart sneaking up to the nettles, where Sunpaw was still lying in wait, and leaped increasing faster to the thorn bush, already starting to doubt the plan.

When she reached the lone pine tree standing next to the thorn bush, she waited until Redheart was two tail-lengths away from the nettle before checking on Stormpaw, who was guarding the thorn bush and squinting to see how her partner was doing.

When Redheart's tail brushed the side of the nettles, awfully close to the place he needed to reach to win, Sunpaw yowled and knocked Redheart off his paws, quickly starting a battle between the two.

When Stormpaw turned her attention away for one second, startled by Redheart's yowl, Icepaw took the advantage and threw herself in the direction of the thorn bush, only to be stoped by Stormpaw, thing that was to be expected.

This was the part when she was forced to improvise, so she instead ran up the pine tree, leaping to the very edge of a low branch and jumped as far as she could, putting all the strength she had into the leap.

She heard Redheart's yowl of victory as he pinned Sunpaw and ran to the stinging nettle, but it didn't matter, she had reached the thorn bush first.

"Icepaw! Stormpaw! Are you okay? What were you thinking jumping right into a thorn bush like that?" Duskfrost yowled.

Icepaw grinned sheepishly and panted, "Desperately trying to win?"

After winning the first competition they were to fight against Twigleap and Flamepaw, fight which was ultimately a tie, they were set against Frostpaw and White-Ember for the final battle, which they lost when White-Ember beat Icepaw in a fight.

Although she was disappointed about losing the final match, she and Sunpaw won the most victories (after the main competition) and were allowed to pick the best of the fresh-kill pile after the queens and elders, and Flamepaw and Twigleap were told that they had escaped elder duty for two days, although they were to patch up the nursery. Redheart and Stormpaw were stuck guarding camp for half the night.

They were practicing stalking and camouflage techniques when Lakepool, Mallowfrost, and a Riverclan camp burst into the training area.

"Mallowfrost! What is a Riverclan cat doing here? _Again_." Duskfrost lashed her tail, "And why are you here? Shouldn't you be talking to Pebblestar?"

"You were closest." Mallowfrost protested, but a something in his narrowed eyes told Icepaw that he was not one to believe in Pebblestar's leadership skills.

The training cats had long since stopped to watch what was happening, but Duskfrost glared at them," Go back to camp, all of you!" She mewed sternly.

Curiosity was gnawing at her, and instead of looking where she was going, she stumbled over a tree branch, wincing at the snapping sound it made, and when she got up, she thought she saw a faint coppery light break the darkness of the paling grey sky. She blinked, certain that it was not normal for one to see glows the colour of embers repetitively.

Before she even had time to take a step, much less the time to leap over the branch still lying next to her, a cat silently hissed from a nearby holly bush, "Be quiet or we'll all be on elder duty for the rest of our lives!"

 **AN:**

 **I was wondering if I should change the title of my story(it doesn't make sense until the climax of the story) and if anyone could tell me of any way I could improve my writing... get more reviews. I'm thankful that people are reading this, but I have only been getting one review per chapter... And not many views per chapter either. I will try to make my writing more interesting**.

 **Have a nice day. Next update in two days:).**


	12. not a real chapter

Hello, I know that I have not updated in a very long time, and I am sorry, I have a really bad case of writers block. This is not an actual update, I will be deleting it, but I was curious to see if anyone was still reading this.

so, please review, I am in desperate need of constructive criticism.


	13. Please read

**Hello again to anyone who is still reading this after all this time. I have decided to rewrite this story. It will hopefully be more well-written and I should update more often. It is called Black Ice, please read and review it.**

 **(A small pice of writing to avoid breaking the rules)**

If there were two flames in the forest, then only one could prevail,

Had there been two rivers the four would have been one **,**

Had those with two paws been fewer five would have remained,

Had there been less than one story all would be gone.


End file.
